On loan Sunderland defender Dion Sanderson has taken to Twitter to react to the Black Cats' victory over Portsmouth on Tuesday night, paying tribute to his central defensive partner for the game - Luke O'Nien - in the process.

Goals in either half from Charlie Wyke and Jordan Jones were enough to earn all three points for Sunderland at Fratton Park, further boosting their hopes of automatic promotion this season.

It was also another clean sheet for Wolves loanee Sanderson in defence, with the 21-year-old partnered at the centre of Sunderland's backline by Luke O'Nien, who found himself stepping into an unnatural position to help Lee Johnson's side cope with a number of injuries in that position.

Now it seems as though Sanderson was rather impressed with what he saw from O'Nien in that somewhat unfamiliar role for the Sunderland, claiming he had been an 'absolute pleasure' to play alongside while giving his thoughts about the win Twitter after the game.

Following that win, Sunderland now sit just two points adrift of the automatic promotion places in the League One table.

However, Lee Johnson's side will be putting that battle for a place in the Championship to one side at the weekend, when they face Tranmere Rovers at Wembley in the final of the EFL Trophy.

The Verdict

This does seem to have been a really big win for Sunderland.

Up against a promotion rival, even one that is out of form as Portsmouth are, there is going to be pressure, but Lee Johnson's side certainly dealt with that perfectly.

Indeed, a fair amount of credit for that has to go to O'Nien, who once again showed his versatility by stepping in at centre back, proving just how big an asset to this side.

It is also good from a Sunderland perspective to see how invested Sanderson is in this promotion push despite the fact he is only on loan, meaning you can certainly understand why they might be keen to keep the defender beyond the end of this season.