Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Former Birmingham City and Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray is well aware of the qualities that Patrick Roberts possesses.
Currently on loan at the Blues from Sunderland, Roberts helped Birmingham City beat Swansea City 1-0 on Saturday with a wonderfully weighted cross for Lyndon Dykes, who scored the winner in the dying minutes of the game.
The former Manchester City prospect carved space for himself out on the right-hand side with some excellent footwork before delivering a tantalising ball for Dykes to head home, much to the delight of the St Andrews faithful.
Roberts enjoyed some of his best football at Sunderland under former Blues and Black Cats boss Mowbray, who heaped praise on the winger shortly before his heroics against Swansea.
Tony Mowbray praises Patrick Roberts for his ‘genius’ dribbling
Mowbray was on punditry duty for Sky Sports on Saturday afternoon, and before Birmingham faced Swansea, the veteran manager hailed the Sunderland loanee.
Only a matter of hours later, he provided the assist for Dykes’ header, which saw Birmingham and Sunderland fans praise Roberts for his stunning impact.
“Just give him the ball, really. He attracts so many people,” Mowbray told Sky Sports of Roberts, who starred under him at the Stadium of Light during the 2022/23 season.
“He doesn’t pick it up and drive straight at you, he picks it up and he’s stuck. He stays with the ball, stays with the ball, people come towards him, and then he picks the right pass or he finishes.
“He’s a wonderful talent. He’s a wonderful kid. You want him to do well because he’s such a nice lad on the training ground and around the dressing room. But he’s a genius.”
When revealing what it was like to manage Roberts at Sunderland, Mowbray added: “I would tell the team to get it to Patrick. Amad Diallo was there as well at the time.
“It was almost frightening. It was carnage for the other teams, really. Good footballers who appreciate each other’s talent and lent each other the ball and ran and got slipped back in and cut it back and scored it.
“Patrick’s a genius with the ball. The ball’s so easy for him. And yet he’s only a slight kid. He jinxes past people; he sticks it through people’s legs.
“I always used to argue, put him in a telephone box with three guys and they won’t be able to get it off him. He’s a wonderful talent.”
With Roberts entering the final year of his contract at Sunderland, could St Andrew’s become his home permanently beyond this season?
Tony Mowbray believes Patrick Roberts is a ‘casualty’ of Sunderland’s success
Sunderland spent over £150m on transfers this summer following their return to the Premier League, leaving Roberts low down the pecking order of Regis Le Bris.
Roberts’ season-long loan will benefit both himself and the Blues’ promotion prospects, and Mowbray’s further comments about the tricky winger point towards why Birmingham should pursue a permanent deal.
Mowbray added: “I think what’s happened at Sunderland, they’ve actually spent a lot of money and they’ve brought a lot of players in to try and deal with the Premier League.
“Patrick’s almost a casualty of that. But I think Birmingham have got a wonderful footballer, a wonderful human being for their dressing room.
“And I look forward to seeing him light it up this year in the Championship.”
Roberts is already lighting up the second tier again this season, as he did for Sunderland last term, and he could be the catalyst to the Blues’ top-six push.