Patrick Roberts heaped praise on one Sunderland teammate after the 1-1 draw with Bristol City on Tuesday night.
Roberts was replaced in the starting lineup by Eliezer Mayenda despite having an excellent game against Stoke City at the weekend.
But Regis Le Bris had to call upon the winger when Tommy Watson suffered an injury midway through the first half.
Roberts put in another strong performance at the Stadium of Light and scored the late equaliser to ensure his team took something from the game.
However, the 27-year-old felt the need to credit another player for the result rather than himself in his post-match interview.
Patrick Roberts praises Adil Aouchiche for impact vs Bristol City
As Sunderland’s man of the moment, Roberts shared his thoughts on the game shortly after the final whistle.
He spoke about a number of things, including where the Black Cats must improve, but the most interesting comments were about one of his teammates.
“I’ve got to give credit to Adil [Aouchiche] as well,” Roberts told Sunderland’s official X account. “He’s been in and out [of the team] this season but he came on… He’s had no problems in training, he gets his head down and works hard.
“He came on and proved the difference today. I’ve got to give great respect to that as a teammate and we need these kinds of players at their best. He came on and made an impact; he set me the ball and lucky it went in the back of the net.”
Roberts is right about the Frenchman’s impact – Sunderland probably wouldn’t have got anything from the game if he wasn’t on the pitch.
Black Cats fans are now saying that Aouchiche needs to start against Swansea City on Saturday.
Does Adil Aouchiche deserve to start vs Swansea City?
Regis Le Bris has previously played down the need to rotate during the busy Winter period but several players would benefit from some rest.
One of those is 17-year-old Chris Rigg, who has played a lot of minutes for someone so young, and it doesn’t have to be that way.
In Aouchiche, Le Bris has a solid backup ‘number 10’ capable of replacing Rigg in the starting lineup every now and then.
Saturday’s Championship clash with Swansea is a prime example of when that change could be made, especially with Rigg not at his best in recent weeks.