Spotted: Luke O’Nien arrives at The Hawthorns amid Sunderland worry v West Brom
It looks as though Sunderland will have Luke O’Nien available to play against West Brom at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.
Chronicle journalist James Hunter spotted the 28-year-old on the pitch at The Hawthorns ahead of the 12pm kick off in the Championship.
Ahead of Sunderland’s trip to the Black Country, Tony Mowbray revealed that O’Nien’s wife is expecting to give birth any time soon, meaning that he was a doubt for the game [Chronicle].
Blow for Albion
Sunderland are bound to be better equipped to play against the Baggies with O’Nien in their side so it’s good news for them that his baby was born before the game.
It’s not the best news for West Brom, however,
The former Wycombe player, who can play anywhere in the defence or as a defensive midfielder, has been ever-present for Mowbray’s side this season, playing 41 times across all competitions.
Even though he’s probably not an amazing player, it’ll still be a boost for Mowbray to have him available again and we’d expect him to start in the defence.
West Brom cannot focus on news like this, however.
Albion’s focus will firmly be on winning the game because they know that a top-six finish is in their own hands.
Some will argue that they’re the hands you don’t want it to be in because of the club’s history of failing on big occasions.
But Sunderland and most of the teams left to play us this season are in a similar, high-pressure situation where they to have promotion at stake.
It should be a nervy game on Sunday but Sunderland’s need to win may see them open up a lot more and that could play into the hands of players like Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jed Wallace.
In other West Brom news, Michael Appleton has shared his thoughts on Albion and Sunderland’s play-off chances.