Josh Windass reveals the Sunderland star that is the best player he's played against | OneFootball

Josh Windass looks set to be a key player as Sheffield Wednesday aim to return to the Championship next season with a bang.

There is the small matter of his contract situation that needs addressing to ensure the 29-year-old is still in place heading into next term, and, of course, the Owls ensuring that they do not fall away in the race for automatic promotion.

As Windass enters the final third of his career in the coming seasons, injuries have impacted some of his prime years, returning to the second tier with a very strong 2022/23 campaign behind him will stand the club in good stead to re-adjust with ease.

Windass opened up a Q&A on Instagram and was asked who the best player he has played against is.

He wrote: "Luke O'Nien."

It seems very unlikely that the person who asked was expecting O'Nien to be the answer, but Windass may be referring to the versatile Sunderland man's performances in last season's League One play-off semi final.

It shows a great attitude and understanding of the game that O'Nien is able to play in so many different positions without any noticeable drop-off in his performance levels.

Lee Johnson used to speak about how he believed that O'Nien was best placed in a box-to-box midfield role whereas Tony Mowbray now sees him as a defender.

The step up to the Championship may be part of the reason for that, but his adaptability is something to be celebrated.

Windass was thrown in at the deep end after a season ravaged by injury to play in the play-offs last term, and O'Nien's intensity that the 29-year-old was unable to replicate could have played a part in the decision.

The Verdict

This is a remarkable claim from Windass and one that no one would have expected.

Across his career to date, Windass has played against the likes of Jack Grealish, Emiliano Buendia and Moussa Dembele, yet he has selected Luke O'Nien as the best he has ever come up against, a huge surprise but a fascinating choice.

O'Nien, along with the rest of his Black Cats team-mates, were operating at a very high level for League One at the back end of last season.

Even though the Owls were also flying and fancied their chances of promotion, they only breached the Black Cats once in their 2-1 aggregate defeat with a late Patrick Roberts finish at Hillsborough deciding the tie.