My future will be sorted another day, says Roberts as he savoursWembley win
PATRICK Roberts said he would enjoy the moment after Sunderland secured promotion back to the Championship following a four-year stint in League One.
The Black Cats winger signed a short-term deal with the club in January but has played a key part in their revival since the transfer window closed.
The former Manchester City prospect scored the vital goal in the second-leg of the play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday and was a major threat in the final against Wycombe. For all the hype around Roberts when he was younger, he’s been unable to break into the City first team and now calls Sunderland home.
The 25-year-old said he would wait and see what the next few weeks hold for him but was full of praise for boss Alex Neil at the full-time whistle. “I’ve no idea to be honest, that’s for the next few weeks,” he said.
“I’ll just enjoy tonight and do whatever I can see what happens.
“We’ll have a few drinks and a lot of partying. You have to enjoy these moments. I think Sunderland fans will enjoy theirs more.”
The current group of Sunderland players has enjoyed success where so many others have failed and Roberts believes the club is finally on the right track.
“It’s up there, it’s definitely up there,” he said when asked how high the moment ranked in his career.
“I’ve won a few trophies up north with Celtic but at a club like Sunderland, after years of trying to do it, we’re back in the direction everyone wants to be in.
“It’s massive and the few times they’ve been here I’ve been here to get them back up.
“I’ve only been here six months
but you can see since the manager has came in, all the players have come in and the ones who are here, it means a lot.
“At the start of the season we had a rocky period with everything going on but we’ve steadied ourselves, got the wins and results and we can enjoy tonight and the summer.
“We knew it would be a tough game. We knew we had the quality and I think they were a bit nervous straight off. We kind of got into our rhythm first half, Embo (Elliot Embleton) scoring the goal was a big help.
“At half-time they just said do the same. They put some pressure on us but we kept at it. We know they’d come and try and launch it and be direct but we just needed one chance to see the game off and when you have a striker like Ross Stewart it’s the man you want it to go to.”
Sunderland took a slender lead into the break, but the message from the Black Cats’ head coach was ‘more of the same’.
Roberts added: “The gaffer thought we were doing really well. We had them really penned in and they didn’t really give us much.
“Apart from if we gave away a foul and they’d pump it in or if the goalkeeper launched it up but I thought we did really well to counteract that and we made them pay.
“Jack Clarke played really well in the semi-final and Embo came in today and scored the goal. It’s the kind of squad we have, it’s good to have and it’s good for morale, good for competition. He came in and I thought he did really well.
“I was pleased for everyone, the manager, the club, myself.
“He’s trusted me to play here and I’m grateful to play as well. I’m just happy we got it done today.”
The Black Cats winger said red and white supporters were right to be confident heading into the game with more than 46,000 in attendance at Wembley.
Roberts added: “It was huge. I think this year especially, even from the crowds at the Stadium of Light.
“Some years gone by they’ve worried about getting to this and bottling it. I think, speaking for them, they felt confident in us, which they should have been.
“We just had to go out there and play the football we knew we could play and that’s what we did.
“I’m sure they’ll be proud of us tonight and we can all go home happy, that’s the main thing.”