Sunderland brought in Luke O’Nien as a midfielder, but he has been more impressive in defence this term.
O’Nien was signed for Sunderland as a central midfielder, but he has put in some impressive performances at right-back this term.
The former Wycombe Wanderers man now appears to be a mainstay in Sunderland’s defence.
And Ross felt that O’Nien proved he could play on the right hand side of defence through his performances in training.
“He ticked a lot of boxes and then even when we did one-v-one stuff in training, he is awkward to get past, he is physical, competitive, and he doesn’t like people going by him,” Ross said.
“He has been a revelation in that respect, and credit to him for how he has faced that challenge.
“When you play him in the middle of the pitch, he covers so much ground because you are involved all the time in the game.
“So we have tried to encourage him to cover the same distance from right-back. That is quite difficult to get right at it, but you can get close as you go up, down, up, down.”
O’Nien could now have a pivotal role to play as Sunderland aim to finish in the top two.
Sunderland are currently in third place in the League One standings, but they have two games in hand over Barnsley, who sit in the automatic spots.
The Black Cats are next in action later this evening, when they take on Burton Albion at the Stadium of Light.
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