LUKE O’NIEN feels the last three matches have proved Sunderland can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the Championship – and the full-back is confident his side can spring a surprise when they head to Burnley after the international break.

The last three games have seen the Black Cats take on Norwich City, Sheffield United and Luton Town – all teams currently sitting in the top seven – and their return of a win, a draw and a defeat is arguably a harsh return given how well they have performed.

They were the better side as they beat Norwich at Carrow Road before being beaten by a hugely-controversial goal that should have been disallowed for offside against Sheffield United. A contentious late refereeing decision went in their favour against Luton at the weekend, but Sunderland more than merited a point given how well they performed over the course of the game.

O’Nien claims the three-match run shows just how far the Black Cats have come since they were promoted from League One last season, and insists he and his team-mates have nothing to fear when they head to Turf Moor to face runaway league leaders Burnley a week on Friday.

“I’m proud of the boys and the way we’ve approached these games,” said O’Nien. “We’ve gone out not to sit in behind, not to get the draw. We’ve gone out to get the wins.

“We did that at Norwich, started well, were aggressive, I thought we played really well and deserved the three points.

"The other night against Sheffield, I think we deserved more. Luton was another difficult game, they got a bit of a deflected goal, then we scored and looked like the team going to win it.

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“It’s been a good few games, although we would have obviously liked more points because that’s the sort of team we are.

"We have a break now, then we have Burnley, where we have to be just as aggressive as in the last couple of games.”

Match analysis & ratings - Page 46