Régis Le Bris delivers honest verdict on Romaine Mundle's reaction to Luke O'Nien's missed penalty

Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris has delivered his honest verdict on Luke O’Nien’s missed penalty against Millwall.

The Black Cats returned to action against Millwall at the Stadium of Light in the Championship after a two-week international break on Saturday afternoon. Le Bris’ side came into the game having lost their last fixture 3-0 away to Coventry following a 1-1 draw with Preston at the Stadium of Light previously.

Trai Hume opened the scoring for Sunderland in the first half after a clever set piece was well-worked between Patrick Roberts and Romaine Mundle, which proved to be the only goal of the game and ensured the Wearsiders returned to winning ways after two games without a victory in the Championship.

Sunderland had the opportunity to double their lead in the second half when Mundle was brought down in the box and the Black Cats were awarded a penalty. Surprisingly, defender and club captain O’Nien stepped up to take the spot-kick but saw his effort saved. The 30-year-old previously had a perfect penalty record for the club but those all came on shoot-outs before Saturday’s miss against the Lions.

There appeared to be some deliberation regarding the penalty between Sunderland’s players with Mundle visibly upset with the decision to allow O’Nien to take it. The forward was due to come off when the spot kick was awarded and was replaced shortly after it was missed by Tommy Watson.

Sunderland have now missed their last four penalties. Wilson Isidor missed two in one game against Burnley at Turf Moore in the Championship, while Patrick Roberts also failed to convert against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane earlier this season.

When asked about Sunderland’s penalty issue, Le Bris said: “I don't know, what can I answer? Yes, it's a problem because from an XG perspective, this is the best situation, the best chance we could have and at the minute we struggled a lot and it's an important topic for us, for the future and for now because with a second goal, the end of the game should have been easier and it wasn't the case.”

“I don't know, so far Luke was really good during the training sessions, I think he scored before Sunderland. So it's more a question of, I don't think a defender or an offensive player is more skilful for that specific exercise, we'll work on it, sure.”

Asked about Mundle’s reaction to O’Nien taking the penalty, Le Bris added: “It was decided before the game but yes, he was a bit emotional but it's not a problem, we'll talk about it a bit later.” When pressed on who would take the club’s next penalty, the Sunderland head coach said: “I don't know, we'll have a conversation with the players.”