SUNDAY’S Wembley showdown with Charlton Athletic has been billed as Sunderland’s opportunity to extract revenge for one of the most infamous play-off final defeats of all time.

For thousands of the fans that will flock to London this weekend, it will be a chance to right an extremely painful wrong. For the players on the pitch, however, the events of 1998 will hardly be at the forefront of their mind. Most were still toddlers when Michael Gray’s penalty failed to beat Sasa Ilic.

Jon McLaughlin might just be able to remember Sunderland’s penalty heartbreak given that he was ten at the time, and as a boyhood Black Cats fan, a 12-year-old Grant Leadbitter might well have shed a tear when Sunderland’s hopes of promotion were dashed.

Ask Luke O’Nien about the 4-4 draw or the penalty shoot-out that followed, though, and you will get a blank face staring back at you.

Sunderland’s right-back was a three-year-old living in Hemel Hempstead when Clive Mendonca’s hat-trick inflicted so much damage on his hometown team, so while he is aware of the backstory surrounding Sunday’s final, it is hardly dominating his thoughts in the build-up to the game.

Like the rest of the Sunderland squad, O’Nien wants to create history rather than be consumed by it.

“I’m too young to remember that game, although I’m obviously aware of what happened,” said the 24-year-old, who has become such a pivotal performer during his first season in the Sunderland ranks. “History is a big thing for a football club, and I’ve played in a lot of games already this season that have meant a lot to the fans.

“To be honest, though, whoever you’re playing at Wembley, it’s always going to be a massive occasion. The fans are going to be right behind us and we’ll do our best to make sure we win.”

This time last year, O’Nien was still basking in the glory of winning promotion to League One with Wycombe Wanderers. He was an integral part of the Chairboys’ success in League Two, but with his performances having caught the eye of a number of clubs from a higher division, there was never any real chance of him remaining at Adams Park.

The key question was who he would join, and his mind was made up once Sunderland’s newly-installed boss, Jack Ross, came calling.

Initially, O’Nien struggled to deal with the switch to the Stadium of Light. By his own admission, he was somewhat overawed by the size of the club he had joined, and while he was involved in the first four league matches, it would be the week before Christmas before he made his second league start in a Sunderland shirt.

That match ended in defeat at Portsmouth, but O’Nien scored in the 3-1 reverse and, perhaps more importantly, discovered a new lease of life at right-back.

Since then, he has not looked back, and with Ross and the rest of Sunderland’s coaching staff having stood by him during a difficult first half of the season, he is determined to repay his manager’s faith by helping secure promotion at the weekend.

“It’s been a special season,” he said. “A lot of people have looked after me here and helped me develop.

“When I step out on that pitch, I make sure I give it my all because a lot of people have helped me get to this stage. I’ve enjoyed it, and to top it off with a win would just make it the perfect season.”

To do that, O’Nien will have to reproduce the disciplined and effective defensive displays that helped Sunderland prevent Portsmouth from scoring during the full 180 minutes of the play-off semi-final. It is a task he is confident of completing.

“We’ve looked back over the footage of the Portsmouth games to see what we can learn,” he said.

“There are things I can improve, and I’ll be trying to do that. We’re looking forward to the final.”