SUNDERLAND’S late show against Shrewsbury proved that Tony Mowbray’s side have what it takes to secure a top-six finish in the Championship this season.

The FA Cup has been a source of misery for Black Cats fans in recent years, with Sunderland dumped out by lower-league opposition in each of the last two seasons.

And the Wearsiders were just minutes away from falling victim to another upset when Matthew Pennington headed League One Shrewsbury into the lead on 81 minutes from Tom Bayliss’s corner from the right.

However, substitute Ross Stewart headed home his tenth goal of the season to haul Sunderland level on 92 minutes from fellow sub Jack Clarke’s corner.

And there was just enough time left for Luke O’Nien to score a superb winner with a fine low effort into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Sunderland’s injury-time heroics came just a fortnight after former loanee Ellis Simms scored a crucial last-gasp winner to beat Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day.

And that fighting spirit should serve Sunderland well in their bid for a top-six finish, with no one embodying that more than O’Nien, who scored his first Black Cats goal at the same ground back in October 2018.

Mowbray said: “Luke is always telling me that he should be on free-kicks and penalties and that he should be taking all the dead balls.

“He’s a wonderful guy with a wonderful personality, from left-back to being in the middle of the opposition box and ramming one in is great credit to him.

“He had the energy and drive to help our team get the result we felt we deserved.”

The win was just reward for the Black Cats, who dominated throughout and were knocking on the door for much of the second period before falling behind.

That was despite Sunderland lining up without a recognised central striker as Stewart was left on the bench and Leon Dajaku was unavailable through injury.

Mowbray has made no secret of his desire to add to Sunderland’s existing forward line and has tried to reassure fans that top scorer Stewart will remain with the club this month.

For all the good work and skill of Patrick Roberts and Amad Diallo, the Black Cats struggled to create a clear-cut chance until Stewart was introduced just before the hour mark along with Clarke.

And Mowbray’s preparations for the tie were further disrupted by the departure of midfielder Jay Matete on loan to League One leaders Plymouth Argyle, with the boss keen to sign a midfielder and striker during the January transfer window.

Mowbray added: “We need a central midfielder to bring competition and we need a centre-forward as well. Jay was going to play, he did the game preparation for us and this deal came along. I feel he should play 15 or 20 games consecutively, why would he want to stay here and hope to get three sub appearances in the next 20 games?

“When it was a team that looks like they are going to get promotion at the top of League One, if he’s going to play, he’ll come back to us more ready to play or compete to play in our team. It’s a good move for him, hopefully he does really well at Plymouth and helps them get promotion and comes back next summer much more confident and ready.

“Leon was going to start down the middle but he got injured in the build up to the game which was frustrating for him and for us.”

Mowbray handed a professional debut to 15-year-old Chris Rigg, who became the club’s youngest ever outfield player in the process.

Rigg came on immediately after Shrewsbury’s opener and won the corner from which Sunderland scored their equalising goal.

Attention now switches back to the league, and Mowbray will hope the manner of Sunderland’s FA Cup success can breed more confidence, with his Black Cats side now unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions.