Roberts starting to maximise his Premier League potential – Tony
Tony Mowbray believes that Patrick Roberts is on the path to maximising his Premier League potential thanks to his renewed focus both on and off the pitch.
Roberts proved the difference as Sunderland sealed three valuable points against Reading on Saturday, scoring a superb late winner to lift the building frustration at the Stadium of Light.
Afterwards Mowbray was asked about Roberts' development, a player who earlier in the season he described as arguablythe most talented in the second division.
The head coach said he had been chatting regularly with the 26-year-old to get across how he feels he can get to the very top level and hopefully with Sunderland.
"I can' t help him with his talent ," Mowbray said.
"He'll be telling me what his nut meg tally is for the last three games, I think we were at about ten before the Reading game. I think we got a few more today, as well. From what I can see, he's starting to live the life of a footballer.
"Patrick should never have been in League One and with the greatest respect to us, he should probably be in the Premier League.
"He hast olive like it, and the penny has dropped I think. I maximised my career asap layer,I haven' t drunk alcohol since the age of 18 because I wanted to be the best player I could be.
"These are the little chats I'm having with Pat - he should be earning hundreds of thousands in the Premier League.
"That's not a criticism of him - I love him to bits, he's an amazing footballer, and I want to achieve something where he's in that Premier League with us.
"I just want him to give himselfthe best chance of being the best player he can possibly be-I think the penny has dropped.
"It's exciting for our fans to watch. I'm saying all the time, give him the ball and let him dance, pick passes, score goals ."
Roberts was expected to start again as Sunderland faced QPR last night, though Mowbray has said that he was looking at making changes to his team to guard against fatigue in a busy schedule.
*Sunderland’s Trai Hume made the Championship’s team of the week after the Black Cats’ win against Reading last weekend.
The Northern Irishman started at right-back in a back four for Tony Mowbray’s side alongside defensive colleagues Aji Alese on the opposite flank and central defenders Danny Batth and Dan Ballard.
The 20-year-old was impressive for Sunderland in their 1-0 win over Reading and often found himself drifting higher up the pitch as the Wearsiders pushed for the winning goal.
Patrick Roberts, the man who netted Sunderland’s winning goal, didn’t make the Championship’s team of the week, with a spot afforded to Wigan Athletic attack er James McClean, Middlesbrough’s Cameron Archer and Nathan Tella of Burnley.
Former pundit Adrian Clarke offered his prediction on this season’ s championship promotion race and has tipped Sunderland to fall short.
Clarke played for Arsenal, Rotherham United, Southend United, Southend United, Carlisle United and Stevenage Borough during his career but say she can’ t look past Sheffield United and Burnley for the automatics and offered a prediction for the play-off places involving Sunderland and Middlesbrough.
He said: “Burnley are going to win the league. Are Sheffield United going to cling on or kick on during the latter stages of the season? I think they’ll be able to keep enough of a distance between themselves and Middlesbrough, they’re a pretty solid side, Sheffield United.
“So I think that those two will go up, Boro, in my opinion, are the next best team by quite some distance, and I think they will go up as play-off winners.
“Boro beat Sunderland in the semis, then they meet Millwall in the final, who beat West Brom. I think Boro will beat Millwall in the final at Wembley and take their place in the top-flight, that’s my prediction.”