‘Luke’s the busiest man in living history – I love that’
Lee Johnson says that he and Luke O'Nien have yet to settle on what his main position will be under the new head coach, but has hinted that his short-term future is likely to be in midfield.
O'Nien has been named on the bench in the last two games, but has not played any competitive minutes under Johnson due to a dislocated shoulder.
While fit to feature in some capacity, his ongoing recovery from that injury has left him unable to take throw-ins for the time being.
That leaves Johnson reluctant to play him in the right-back role that has largely been his since the start of last season.
The Sunderland head coach is open-minded about the challenge in the long run, and it's clear that the 26-year-old will have a significant role to play.
"I've just had an hour with Luke," Johnson said.
"I really like Luke, he's the busiest man in living history, which I love, and he's got an infectious personality as well.
"He's a great character. "I asked him to tell me the three positions he felt he could have the highest ceiling in, ie. to go and play in the Premier League.
"He didn't have a clue. "It was eight, ten, two, maybe left-sided centre half
and maybe he thinks he can do a job at left-back.
"We have to get to grips with what his best position is, for this football club and for my game-style.
"He's such a good lad who does so much extra work, and it allows us to
plan properly for that extra work.
"If you give him a task he's like a dog with a bone, and he won't come back until he's the best at it. That's his mentality.”
On O’Nien’s ongoing shoulder problem and its restrictive impact, Johnson added: "One of the issues we have in the short term is that he can't throw a ball at the moment.
"If he makes that action, he goes down in agony based on the contraction of the nerve.
"That's an issue at fullback, where you have to take a lot of throws.
"It means that, effectively, in the short term, until the nerve problem goes, it almost rules him out at fullback unless we have a crisis [in that position]."