Luke O'Nien credits 'world class' Brian Brobbey for Premier League adjustment

“If the club succeeds, I succeed. It’s not just about playing games, there’s so much more you can do and contribute than playing games. I had to do that at parts of the season and wait for my opportunity. We’ve got some talented players in here and I was glad to train alongside them every single day. When you’re not playing and you go up against the starting eleven, I had Brian Brobbey every single day up against me and him, for my development, it doesn’t get much better, he’s one of the best strikers in the world.”

The defender was speaking to Sky Sports.

“To go up against him day-in, day-out, to ask him questions, what do you like, what don’t you like, it brought my game so much higher. So when I did get my opportunity, it wasn’t just a big step-up, it was just gradual improvement thanks to players like Brian and Granit [Xhaka] and other players as well.”

O’Nien made 12 Premier League appearances as Regis Le Bris’s side finished seventh and secured a place in this season’s Europa League.

He spent time on loan at Wealdstone before playing over a century of games for Wycombe Wanderers in a three-year stay at Adams Park.

After joining Sunderland in League One, he has been a hugely popular figure over eight years and now has more than 330 appearances.

Source: Sunderland Echo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”