Patrick Roberts aims to shoot down Sheffield Wednesday again - a year after relegating them

Patrick Roberts spent the first part of this season kicking his heels out in France.

The midfielder had effectively been discarded by parent club Manchester City and was barely getting a look in on loan at Troyes - the sixth time he had been shipped out by City following their £12million purchase of him in 2015.

The midfielder who had once been labelled a 'mini Lionel Messi ' whilst progressing through the youth ranks at Fulham might have been sharing a league with the Argentina and PSG superstar, but that was about it.

He would feature in just one game out in France - a 14-minute cameo off the bench in a 3-1 loss at Lyon. In January the arrangement was torn up and Sunderland quickly moved to thrash out a permanent deal for Roberts, who made just three sub appearances for City in his seven years there - all coming in 2015.

Since then he has become a regular part of the Black Cats' side, starting three of the last four games as they bid to end their long stay in the third tier. He initially joined on a six-month deal but there is the option to extend that beyond this term. A big factor in that is likely to be what league the club are in next season.

Tonight, Roberts will be hoping to play his part in aiding Alex Neil's side in reaching the League One play-off final. The prize on offer is a one-off clash with Wycombe on May 21 for a place in the Championship.

Before they can think of that prospect, Sunderland travel to Sheffield Wednesday for the semi-final second leg with a slender 1-0 advantage after Friday's night win at the Stadium of Light.

For Roberts, who played 81 minutes of the first clash, it is a chance to inflict more misery on the Owls. Almost a year ago today he scored a superb goal whilst on loan at