Luke O’Nien is confident Sunderland can outperform their previous brilliant season.
The defender has told Chronicle Live of his expectations of the upcoming campaign and has claimed the Black Cats’ focus will be to go one step further than their play-off defeat last time out.
O’Nien was a key part of Sunderland’s success last season as they exceeded expectations to reach the Championship play-offs, with the 28-year-old making 43 appearances across the pitch.
O’Nien found himself across the entire backline, as well as in midfield, as Sunderland suffered a continuous injury crisis that made their sixth place finish even more impressive.
Despite massively overachieving in their first campaign back in the second tier, O’Nien says the team will be aiming high as they open the new season with a home clash against Ipswich Town.
“I think it’s important to drive high,” he said. “I think this club has always done that, and it’s no different for us. We’ve set a base level last year, and it’s important we build on that and try to get better every single year.
“Ever since I’ve been here, that’s been the case – in each of the last five years, we’ve always been looking to try to get better. I’m in my sixth season now, and that’s always the case.
“It’s important to put in the base and the foundation to make sure we keep growing and try to outperform how we did last season.”
Luke O’Nien is right to be aiming high – however Sunderland will be competing in a much tougher Championship this season
It’s great to see the belief the Sunderland players have in their ability and it would be wrong of us not to be aiming for more success this season, however the odds are looking significantly lower.
Three very strong teams were relegated from the Premier League in May, with Leeds United, Southampton and Leicester City all dropping down to the Championship.
We could see the likes of Wilfried Gnonto, Tino Livramento and Jamie Vardy competing to help guide their sides straight back to the top flight – a very tough team for anyone to come up against.
As well as that trio, Sunderland will also take on the likes of Norwich, Middlesbrough, Watford and West Brom.
The Championship is looking arguably the strongest it’s been in a very long time, so the Black Cats are going to have to pull off an unbelievable ask to be one of the three teams winning promotion in less than a year.