Sunderland may have secured a much-needed victory on the road against Cambridge yesterday but it wasn't all positive news for the Black Cats.

Efforts from Nathan Broadhead and a Dimitar Mitov own goal meant a first win on the road for Lee Johnson's side since a mid-October drubbing of Crewe Alexandra.

A 2-1 win at the Abbey Stadium meant that the Wearsiders moved up to fifth in the League One table and they did it without the creative presence of Aiden McGeady, who will be out for at least eight weeks with a knee injury.

Alex Pritchard and Broadhead stepped up to the plate to provide the goods though but another player who was missing who is also a first-team regular was Luke O'Nien.

O'Nien has mainly played in his preferred role of midfield this season but as a left-back in the last two outings before the trip to Cambridge he notched both a goal and an assist.

However he was absent from the squad in its entirety yesterday and following the win it was revealed that the 26-year-old is going to be missing a lot of action in the next few months.

That is because a shoulder injury suffered by the versatile player will require an operation, putting O'Nien on the sidelines for the next three months - it was hoped that the long-standing problem could be sorted in the summer of 2022 but it can be put off no longer.

Even though O'Nien's performances this season have been somewhat inconsistent, he will no doubt be a big miss and Sunderland fans have been reacting to his setback.