Alex Rae reveals exactly which Sunderland legend Luke O’Nien reminds him of | OneFootball

Rae featured alongside Ball at Sunderland between 1996 and 1999.

Ball earned legend status on Wearside by making over 300 league appearances for the club and helping them achieve promotion as champions of the second-tier on two separate occasions.

After holding a number of different coaching roles and serving as a club ambassador, Ball left Sunderland last year.

As for O'Nien, he marked his latest appearance for Sunderland last Friday by helping his side claim a point against Championship leaders Burnley.

The 28-year-old once again demonstrated his versatility as he was deployed as a centre-back by Tony Mowbray in this particular fixture.

With Sunderland set to take on Hull City later this week, O'Nien is expected to feature for his side at the Stadium of Light.

What has Alex Rae said about Luke O'Nien?

Ahead of this upcoming clash, Rae has drawn a comparison between O'Nien and Ball.

Speaking to Grosvenor Sport, Rae said: "Luke has been at the club for a number of years now and has managed to accumulate excellent numbers.

"He's not far off a couple of hundred [league] games for the club and that's the bracket where fans will love him.

"I like a lot of what Luke O'Nien brings to the table.

"He's dogged, resilient and he reminds me of my old skipper Kevin Ball in a lot of ways.

"He's very competitive, gives it his all and he can play a bit too so when you look at that, he's a player you'd want to build others around because he's a model of consistency."

Will O'Nien achieve promotion to the Premier League at Sunderland?

While Sunderland still have an outside chance of booking a place in the play-offs this season, their supporters may have to wait until the 2023/24 campaign to see their side launch a sustained push for promotion.

With O'Nien's contract at the club not set to expire until 2024, he is expected to stay at the club for at least another season.

Having recorded a respectable average WhoScored match rating of 6.73 in the Championship during the current term, O'Nien will be confident in his ability to help Sunderland reach new heights later this year.