‘I’m sure’: Luke O’Nien makes Sunderland dressing room pledge amid Granit Xhaka absence

Sunderland will again have to cope without Granit Xhaka when they take on Burnley on Monday night, but captain Luke O’Nien is confident the squad can rise to the challenge.

Xhaka was absent for the first time in the Premier League this season during the trip to the London Stadium, where the Black Cats conceded three first-half goals in a 3–1 defeat to West Ham United. Sunderland showed improvement after the break, with O’Nien introduced late on at right-back.

With Xhaka sidelined, O’Nien will play an important leadership role. While he acknowledged the midfielder’s importance, he stressed that there is enough experience and character within the group to manage without him.

“Of course he’s a miss, he’s a huge player and personality,” O’Nien said. “He still travelled with us to West Ham and was in the dressing room, but we’ve got plenty of leaders here who can step up. I fully trust the team. He’s a big loss, but there’s a lot of quality and leadership in the squad.

“For me, it’s about staying consistent whether I’m starting or not. I know who I am and what I bring. I try to be a voice, to help the players and the team. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I just want to contribute in any way I can. The lads have to fill Granit’s role and I’m sure they will.”

Head coach Régis Le Bris confirmed after the West Ham defeat that Xhaka will also miss Monday night’s clash with Burnley due to an ankle problem.

“He has an ankle injury, so he’ll need at least two weeks to recover,” Le Bris said. “After that we’ll reassess to determine the exact recovery period.”

O’Nien also called on Sunderland to take lessons from the setback at West Ham while keeping a broader view of what has been an impressive season so far.

“Perspective is crucial in football,” he said. “You can’t just judge things on one game, you have to look at the whole season. That said, we won’t just brush this aside — you have to learn from setbacks.

“We spent years in League One, and that’s part of why we’re enjoying success now. From the outside, games like this look like failures, but they’re often the ones that help you grow. We’ll analyse it, understand why we moved away from our identity, and fix it.

“These matches are important for us, individually and as a group. We’ll always keep perspective — we’re in a really strong position. We’ve worked hard and competed with almost every team this season, apart from maybe a couple of games.”