Luke O’Nien gives ‘honest’ verdict on Sunderland’s recent struggles and what must ‘change’ against Stoke City

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Luke O’Nien has reflected on Sunderland’s recent form and explained what must ‘change’ against Stoke City and beyond.

One month ago, Regis Le Bris’ team were leading the Championship table and everything looked perfect at the Stadium of Light.

Fast forward to now and many Sunderland fans feel like the sky is falling as the team are on a six-game winless run.

O’Nien has put the Black Cats’ current struggles into perspective while assessing where the team can improve ahead of the busy winter period.

• READ MORE: David Prutton offers score prediction for Sunderland vs Stoke City as two ‘struggling teams’ clash

Luke O’Nien gets ‘honest’ about Sunderland

O’Nien has been one of Sunderland’s most consistent performers in recent seasons but he’s not been at his best lately.

Indeed, the defender accepted the blame for Chris Mepham’s red card in the 1-0 defeat to league leaders Sheffield United on Friday night.

Speaking to Total Sport, the 30-year-old gave his verdict on the club’s current situation before the must-win game against Stoke City on Saturday.

“To be honest with you, you kind of just lose track of the days. You train, work, try to execute the game plan, debrief and then go again.

“The team is in a good place, we’re very close to being really, really good. We don’t have to change too much, just little details.

“We’re just going to have to put in a little bit more effort, more thought and more care. When these fine lines come again, we’ll be ready to turn them our way.”

Sunderland aren’t far from another winning streak

As O’Nien says, Sunderland only need to improve a few things to become a ‘really good’ team again. After all, the performances have been fine.

It should not be discounted that the Black Cats were the better team against Sheffield United and some of their recent games.

Of course, it’s a results business and there can be no excuses for losing games but the signs are there that Le Bris’ side are on the cusp of another winning streak.

If Sunderland can just be more clinical in the final third and avoid needless defensive mistakes, they could easily return to winning ways against Stoke.

And, with mid-table clubs Bristol City and Swansea up next after that, they could soon be pushing for the automatic promotion places once again.