Tony Mowbray insists he had no concerns about playing Luke O'Nien at West Bromwich Albion - even though the game came less than 24 hours after his wife had given birth, and he had been on the road since dawn. While the rest of the Sunderland team travelled by bus to the Midlands on Saturday, O'Nien stayed on Wearside to be with his family before being driven down to West Bromwich first thing on Sunday morning.
With Sunderland in the grip of a central defensive injury crisis, he was needed to play in the middle of a back three against the Baggies. O'Nien gave away a controversial penalty for a foul on John Swift on the stroke of half-time at The Hawthorns - a decision described as 'really soft' by Mowbray - with Swift then converting from the spot.
But Sunderland came back, and Dennis Cirkin scored twice in the second half against play-off rivals West Brom to earn his team a win that lifted them into a top six spot. Asked about O'Nien's preparations, Mowbray said: "The plan for Luke was to get up early and leave at 5.30am to get here in time for breakfast with the team and then play.
