Sunderland's Luke O'Nien makes Newcastle admission and explains aim under Michael Beale ahead of Ipswich trip

Luke O'Nien says Sunderland are not far off being a really good team despite a wake-up call against Newcastle in the Wear-Tyne derby.

The Black Cats were beaten 3-0 in the FA Cup third-round match at the Stadium of Light, with Michael Beale's side coming up against a higher quality of opposition compared to what they've faced in the Championship this season.

When asked about how challenging the game was, O'Nien told the Echo: "I think we look at it now the game is done, the game is done and the goals were all preventable. If you kind of prevent them then anything can happen. 

"I think it was clear how well they played out from the back and how well they pressed. As a player that’s what you want, you want to expose yourself against the best team, the best players. It’s just our job now to bridge that gap."

"They’ve taken many scalps," he added "PSG and Chelsea recently. To expose yourselves to probably one of the best pressing teams I think it’s big lessons for us.

"We had ignorance maybe going into the game because we haven’t been exposed to this level. Now we have knowledge and I think it’s important that we use that."

Sunderland will now get more time to work on the training pitch under head coach Michael Beale, who was appointed less than a month ago ahead of a busy festive fixture schedule.

"We’ve had a lot of games recently so it’s hard to hammer a lot of things home," O'Nien added when asked about Beale's arrival. "I think the league form we have been very good and there has been some small changes. He’s been really, really good with the boys. 

"I think it’s a really hard one to prepare for to what we’ve been used to with this game. It’s a difficult one, but we prepped and just didn’t quite get it right. The same thing is going to happen now. We are going to rest, we are going to train, we are going to learn and we are going to build up for the Ipswich game which is our next biggest game."

Sunderland moved back up to sixth in the Championship with a 2-0 win over Preston on New Year's Day, while O'Nien hopes the Newcastle match will prove to be a learning curve as the Black Cats aim to finish in the play-offs for a second successive season.

"We are not far off a really, really good team," the defender added when discussing Beale's first few weeks on Wearside. "We are learning his ways, he’s had some huge experiences and I think if you ask anyone in the changing room I think the direction of where the club wants to go is exciting.

"We still have a long way to go, I think that’s clear and we’ve seen the gap. As players I think it’s clear the way he’s talking and delivering the messages that we will get there. These next 20 games are huge. If we get these next 20 games right we are going to be hitting the next step of where we want to be and the aim is to get a couple of derbies a year again."