Luke O’Nien has been previewing Sunderland’s big clash against Portsmouth in the second leg of the play-off semi-final at Fratton Park.
The Black Cats will take a one-goal advantage into Thursday night’s big match, after Chris Maguire’s sublime volley was the only goal in the first leg at the Stadium of Light.
He states that he is very positive going into the second leg a goal up, but the Lads still need to put a shift in if they want to move one step closer to promotion to England’s second tier.
“I am very positive going into the second leg,” he smiled. “The way we set ourselves up for the first leg puts us in a very good position.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, although we have a one-nil lead going to Fratton Park. We have had a good couple of days of training and the boys are in good spirits.”
Portsmouth will be backed by a sold-out home crowd on Thursday, but O’Nien believes there’s enough character within the Sunderland dressing room to cope with the hostile conditions set to greet them.
“We have been down there before, and we know what it is like. We have experienced their stadium and their fans, so we will be hoping to put in a professional job and hopefully keep our lead.
“They are a good team and we have played them lots of times this season, so we know what they are about.
“We are going to have to make sure that we are on it and I am sure if we do this, they won’t be able to handle us. The quality that we have in our team is massive, and we have done our homework on them, but we have to focus on ourselves so that we can do our job properly and hopefully that it enough to come away with a win.
“It is our ambitions to get back to Wembley and put things right after our last game (the Checkatrade Trophy final) and make sure we are on the end of the right result this time.”
