Johnson hails Cats youngster Patterson
Lee Johnson praised Anthony Patterson for an assured peformance in his first win as Sunderland Head Coach.
Patterson was given an opportunity to start at Boundary Park, with Johnson receiving ravereviewsabouthisprogress from staff at the Academy of Light.
The 20-year-old made an excellent early stop from Bobby Grant, and secured the win late with an excellent reaction save when Davis KeillorDunn’s effort was deflected towards goal.
Patterson was beaten by a long-range drive from Oldham Athletic Bobby Grant, but Johnson felt the fault there lay more generally with the team. And the Head Coach was impressed with aspects of Patterson’s game that can often be weak in young goalkeepers.
“I thought he did well," he said. "He looks the part in terms of him filling the goal, and he’s got lovely agility. I never felt unconfident when the balls were coming into the box.
"He claimed a couple and, for a young goalkeeper, normally they’re good shot-stoppers because of the training they do, but it’s the box management.
"I thought his box management was excellent and he put his foot on a few good connections that could have been a bit risky.
“The goal I thought was more of a team thing. I was disappointed because I haven’t had time to introduce certain protocols when we give the ball away.
"I call it a code red where it’s a square pass we give away and everybody has to make sure they get inside the post as quick as possible.
"We just had three or four not quite make it which gave the guy the opportunity to pick up the space.”