Antony Patterson is once again a talking point following Sunderland’s defeat against Hull City in the Championship, though not for the right reasons.
Already at 24 years old, Anthony Patterson has 153 total appearances for Sunderland, including 121 in the Championship.
But the going is tough for the Sunderland academy product right now. Against Hull City, Patterson fluffed a corner and scored an own goal, leading to the Black Cats’ first home defeat in the league all season.
Needless to say, Sunderland fans have criticised Patterson social media as they’ve often done of late, with Patterson certainly not looking his usual confident self.
There’s growing calls for no.2 goalkeeper Simon Moore to come into the XI. Whether or not Regis Le Bris will heed those calls remains to be seen, but he may be worried to know that his opposition manager on Saturday, Ruben Selles, specifically exploited a weakness of Patterson’s on Saturday.
Hull City boss explains how he targeted Anthony Patterson weakness
Ruben Selles now has five wins from 15 games in charge of Hull City, with his side’s vital win at the Stadium of Light on Saturday lifting them up a place in the standings to 20th. Sunderland meanwhile remain in 4th place of the Championship table.
Speaking after the game, Selles explained how he urged his players to crowd the six-yard box, specifically on in swinging corners. It’s an area of Patterson’s game that fans have specifically called out in recent weeks with the Sunderland man not looking overly commanding of his area.
Selles said: “We were clear today. We want to put pressure in the small box around the goalkeeper with inswing deliveries. I think that’s what we did. First one went in. It’s always difficult to score in that kind of ball direct, but if you make it proper you can have some deflections. We have been working during the week on making that kind of corner.”
What Regis Le Bris thinks about Simon Moore at Sunderland
So far this season, summer signing Moore has played four games in the Championship and has an impressive three clean sheets to his name.
His last game was the 2-2 draw against Coventry City back in November. After the game, Le Bris said he was impressed by Moore and his performances, explaining: “He did well. He did very well. I am very pleased for Simon.
“He is a good professional, a very good professional. His attitude is perfect. And because he is training so well every day, when the opportunities come he is ready.”
So Le Bris already knows Moore has quality. He may entrust him with the starting spot but it would be a big call to drop Patterson, and a huge dent to his confidence and likely his transfer value going forward.
But mistakes like the one against Hull are proving costly. It’s not his first mistake of late either and so Le Bris may have a watchful eye on Patterson’s performances in the coming weeks.