Luke O'Nien's imminent arrival will represent something of a coup for Sunderland.There was interest across the division for his signature and his career is on an upward curve. News of his likely departure from Wycombe Wanderers has been followed by an outpouring of disappointment and well-wishes from those close to the club. As with Jack Baldwin, Sunderland supporters will hope that is a good sign both of his quality at this level and his character. O'Nien has played plenty of football in pre-season so should arrive on Wearside in good condition. Whether Jack Ross throws him straight into the line-up against Charlton Athletic remains to be seen, and there is undoubtedly competition. Ross is a big fan of Ethan Robson, who is hoping to recover from an injury this week. And then there is Bali Mumba, the 16-year-old who has played a full part in pre-season and never once looked out of his depth. It was that way again against Middlesbrough, Mumba competing well against an imposing midfield. At one stage he was easily beaten by the talent Martin Braithwaite, but returned moments later to spin delightfully on the edge of the opposition box, launching the move that saw Josh Maja come within inches of scoring what would have been the winning goal. Jack Ross is reluctant to put too much pressure on such young shoulders but had no intention of playing down the quality with which Mumba is playing. At this stage, he has established himself firmly in his first team thoughts. "He's done that throughout the whole pre-season period," Ross said. "You quite often come to a club having heard of a young player and they have a lot of hype around them. But you work with him on a daily basis, [you see] not just his ability on the pitch but how mature he is as a character. I've been really impressed by him. "Circumstances have probably dictated that he's had more opportunities than he may have had previously in this pre-season but he's taken every one of them. "Against Middlesbrough, probably the biggest compliment I can pay him is that he looked comfortable on that stage, against good players. "Giving up a lot physically but the way he uses his body, how composed he is, he undoubtedly has a bright future. "At the moment I just see him as part of my squad. Every single day he's trained with me, I see no reason why that won't continue as the season goes on. "We're mindful that he's still very, very young but he's been terrific and I'm really pleased for him." Ross remains hopeful that the 'influential' Dylan McGeouch will be fit to play against Charlton after being substituted with a tight calf during the game with Middlesbrough. Lee Cattermole is also a doubt after missing the contest due to illness. Ross, it seems, will have no qualms handing Mumba his second senior appearance if they fail to recover. With the imminent arrival of O'Nien we look pretty well stacked in that area now. 1 more striker and i think we can all be excited for the season ahead. We still have Mcgeady and Watmore to return aswell.
We needed O'Nien because one or two injuries and we're heaping pressure on Mumba and Robson but with him in I think we're pretty strong there with him and McGeouch as first choice and the others filling in. O'Nien looks a good player and a great character to have around the place.
We also have Embleton who will get a chance occasionally aswell. Thanks for the service Catts but please feck off and start a new chapter in your career, your time here has come to an end.
We look really strong there with some good options and then some really promising youngsters to keep them on their toes. Only thing we haven’t got really is a big physically imposing midfielder, but that’s not the end of the world if we’re going to be trying to outplay teams and not hoof them about the pitch. I’m genuinely really excited about this season - we’re only the number 9 away from from what should be a really good team at this level.
