“I regret alot of things but”- Patrick Roberts opens up on long-awaited Premier League return with Sunderland
Patrick Roberts made a significant impact in Sunderland’s Wembley triumph on Saturday
Sunderland winger Patrick Roberts has admitted that he is relishing the prospect of testing his mettle in the Premier League following the Black Cats’ promotion on Saturday afternoon.
Regis Le Bris’ side came from behind to beat Sheffield United 2-1 at Wembley, with Tommy Watson scoring a dramatic stoppage time winner to end an eight-year stint in the EFL. For his part, Roberts was introduced just before the hour mark, and would go on to provide the assist for Eliezer Mayenda’s 76th minute equaliser.
And the guarantee of top flight football next season means that Roberts will finally make a return to a division that he has previously flirted with during spells as Fulham, Manchester City, and Norwich City, but that he has still only registered six appearances in.
What did Patrick Roberts say about representing Sunderland in the Premier League?
Speaking after the final whistle at Wembley, Roberts admitted that he always held a belief he would one day play in the Premier League again. He said: “For those that’ve known me for a while, I’ve always been fairly confident. Maybe I could have done more early in my years, but I don’t regret anything in my life. I came to a great club. I was grateful enough to them for obviously taking me, give me a platform and give me more contracts. They didn’t have to do, but they did.
“I just want to repay them and help out as much as I can. I knew I probably wasn’t fit enough to start today, but it was a case of just doing anything I could to impact off the bench today for this club. Now I’m over the moon – especially for Tommy as well. It’s a great send off for him and you know he’s got his head down. A great way to end I think.”
He added: “I’ve never really had the chance. I went to Celtic and that was a different experience and then I went abroad, and I’ve been in the Champ for a while now after coming here in League One. I’m only 28 so I’ve got a fair few years ahead of me. I feel really good. It’s the best year I’ve had probably in a while in terms of physicality and mentally.”
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What did Patrick Roberts say about his time with Sunderland?
Reflecting more broadly on a spell in the North East that will now span three divisions – from League One to the Premier League – he continued: “It’s been an absolute delight. I said years ago when I came here, the goal was to get them back to the Premier League and that was just to get out of League One, which was hard enough, and we did that the same way. Then next season get to the play-offs but after that, not too well.
“This season we started really well. We’ve been probably fourth all season. Sheffield United, very good team. But as you can see by the fans, even the Coventry game the other day, it meant a lot more to us as players and they pushed us over the line. We can’t ask for more than that, it’s been brilliant.”
He added: “When I came here it was obviously a big, huge club. Everyone kept saying, how are they in League One? But you’re in League One for a reason. The task was to get out of it. We did get out of it in the same way and then it was just trying to build on that as a good Championship club and see where you can take it.
“This year with the new manager, we brought in some players, especially in January, and you could see the ambition of the owner and director and obviously of us as players. There was momentum and we could see what we could do.
“It was always gonna be tough. I think Coventry was a really tough game. I played with it with calf injuries in both games, but I didn’t really care about that. I just thought that if it’s gonna be the last game of the season then you’ve got to do what you can. Then, getting here, I just wanted to make sure I was involved. It’s not nice being not involved in something like this and to come on and make an impact.”
