“Excellent” – Alex Neil heaps praise on Sunderland player and drops fresh selection hint

Sunderland boss Alex Neil has labelled 21-year-old goalkeeper Anthony Patterson’s performance against Wigan “excellent” and suggested he “is in the team because he deserves to be in the team”. 

Patterson was handed a chance to impress against AFC Wimbledon in Neil’s first game in charge as both Thorben Hoffmann and Lee Burge were unavailable and has retained possession of the number one jersey ever since.

The young shot-stopper produced arguably his best performance in a Sunderland shirt to date on Saturday – making three saves and two claims as he helped the Black Cats keep a clean sheet in a 3-0 win against second-placed Wigan.

That victory was Neil’s first since taking charge at the Stadium of Light and the Scottish coach has heaped praise on Patterson in the fallout.

Speaking to Chronicle Live, the Black Cats boss discussed the 21-year-old’s position and hinted that he was set to remain first choice despite Hoffmann’s availability.

He said: “Patterson is in the team because he deserves to be in the team.

“It’s not relative to anyone else. In the last game [against Burton], he probably made a kick that he shouldn’t have done but he’s still a young kid and he’s learning.

“And I thought his management of the game on Saturday was excellent, he made saves when we needed him to, and I thought he came and collected a few crosses when we needed him to as well. He should be full of confidence after that and hopefully can continue on from there.”

Neil will hope that Saturday can be a turning point for Sunderland, who had gone six games without a win and were at risk of dropping out of the top six completely ahead of the game.

Building momentum looks set to be key as we head toward the business end of the season and they’ll get