Sunderland fans are surely delighted with Patrick Roberts after his late goal rescued the Black Cats in midweek, but he knows he’s not always in the good books.
Regis Le Bris’ side left it incredibly late on Tuesday night, but Patrick Roberts popped up with an injury time goal to rescue a point against Bristol City.
The draw extended Sunderland’s unbeaten home run to ten games, but fans and players alike are rightly frustrated that the Mackems couldn’t get a win given their dominance on the night.
Sunderland have been guilty of wastefulness in front of goal for a while now, and Roberts himself is a prime culprit despite his goal this week.
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Patrick Roberts understands why fans want more goals from him
Patrick Roberts was our star of the match vs Bristol City, but after the game, he addressed criticism that has been sent his way this season and told the Sunderland Echo that he thinks fans are totally fair to demand more from him.
“Ever since I’ve come here, I’ve been trying to do my best for Sunderland and every time I’m proud to wear that shirt… I know I could probably do a lot more. I know myself. I’m very hard on myself.
“The first thing for me is Sunderland winning games, and I’ll take that any day over a goal and assist, but I know you need those things to win games, so I understand that point as well and I’m hoping I can add more to my game. I do believe a lot of myself, and I want to reach levels I’ve never reached before.”
| Statistics | Patrick Roberts 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 19 |
| Goals | 2 |
| Assists | 4 |
| xG | 3.5 |
| Shot-creating actions per 90 | 3.89 |
Roberts explained how Le Bris is helping him get to those levels, and insisted the negative feedback from the fans isn’t hurting his spirits.
He added: “The manager helps in that, he’s very confident and has a lot of belief in me and a lot of players, which is nice. But, yes, I can understand if maybe there’s criticism, it’s fine, it’s part of football and it doesn’t put me down too much.
“I still have a lot of belief in myself and just want to do well for the fans of the club and the people who brought me here and win Sunderland games and see where it takes us.”
Patrick Roberts has to build on his last two performances now
After that penalty miss against Sheffield United a couple of weeks ago, Roberts looked low on confidence and fans had every right to get on his back.
But, he came out with a strong showing against Stoke City and Roberts appeared to nail down his spot in Le Bris’ team.
It was a surprise, then, to see him dropped for the game against Bristol City, but Roberts’ revelation that he was suffering with illness for the game makes a lot of sense in retrospect.
Indeed, were it not for Tommy Watson picking up an injury, Roberts might not have been introduced at all, but it’s a good job he did get on the pitch as he made a huge impact.
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He’s now got two really good performances under his belt, he’s registered a goal and an assist in those games, and he’s surely high on confidence once more. From here, Roberts has got to build some momentum and step up to help make a difference for the Black Cats as they deal with injuries to Watson and Romaine Mundle on the wings.