Luke O'Nien insists Sunderland can kick-on in 2023 and build on their impressive start to life back in the Championship. O'Nien admits the step up from League One was something of a voyage into the unknown for most players in the squad, but the Black Cats have adapted quickly and currently find themselves sitting eighth in the table - just a point outside the play-off places.
Maintaining that level over the course of an entire campaign will not be easy, but Sunderland have reached this point despite having had to contend with a lengthy injury list for virtually the entire season, which left them without star striker Ross Stewart for more than three months and with no centre-forwards at all for seven games.
"We are in a real good position to kick on this year and just have to make sure we take the league in our own hands, we don't just wait for it to happen, we make it happen and I think we are doing that so far," said O'Nien.
"I think at the start naturally you are uncertain a little bit and I think anyone would be, because some people have played in this league and some people haven't. I think you learn to grow into it and a lot of us have. I think with that growth and belief I've got no surprise where we are right now because I think collectively we work really, really hard and learn game by game.
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"Maybe at the start of the season you have the element of this is a new league, and now that's gone. I really believe and back where we are and think we’ve deserved to be where we are and we just have to keep pushing forward."
Over the Christmas-New Year period, Sunderland picked up seven points from a possible nine with a home win against Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day followed by a 4-1 win at Wigan, before being left frustrated to be held to a draw at Blackpool on New Year's Day after Stewart had equalised midway through the second half following Shayne Lavery's opener.
O'Nien added: "I think it shows how far we've come, especially when you get seven points from nine. We walk away [from Blackpool] and we should have had more, and we wanted more, and we feel like we deserved more.
"I think that's credit to us because everybody connected with Sunderland has been working so hard and putting all the work in behind the scenes.
"There was a huge belief on Sunday that we should have come out in the second half and generally I feel we should have won 3-1 or 4-1. We are going into games and I don't think we have really played a team which has dominated us.
"We've been competitive every game and we've been there to take the points. We just have to make sure we keep getting better every game that goes by, learn, and even the games we win take away our good points and make them better. It's an enjoyable place to be."
Sunderland's squad was hit by a sickness bug in the build-up to the Blackpool game, with O'Nien one of the players affected but he told boss Tony Mowbray on the day of the game that he was willing to play, and he completed the full 90 minutes at Bloomfield Road. O'Nien said: "It wasn't ideal. I was in bed all Saturday for training so I missed that.
"I managed to catch up with the tactical side on Sunday morning and just get out there and still play, still help the boys. We were disappointed not to come away with the three points because I felt like we deserved that after the second half."
O'Nien's versatility is well-documented, and with Sunderland's squad stretched by injuries he has spent time in the last couple of games playing on the left side of a back three. He said: "I enjoy it down the left side, especially when you've got Clarkey [Jack Clarke] there.
"I give the ball to him and watch his dancing feet, and then I've just got to defend. I have Bails [Bailey Wright] inside me who makes my job really easy.
"I enjoy it and it's our job to keep the ball out of the net. We didn't quite get the clean sheet we wanted. We'll look at the whole game and see how we can come away with three points next time."
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