Sunderland star is finished at Stadium of Light after what he did in U21s draw with Anderlecht
Sunderland U21s lined up with several senior stars on Wednesday night as they drew 2-2 with Anderlecht.
The Black Cats went head-to-head with their Belgian opponents at the Stadium of Light, as the pair shared the points in their opening outing in the Premier League International Cup.
Brian Bobbey netted the opener for Sunderland, before Timur Tutierov equalised deep into the second half to ensure the hosts came away with something to show for their efforts.
Regis Le Bris will have been delighted to see his new frontman find the back of the net and gain some much-needed confidence, but he will have been hugely concerned by the display from another senior player.
Anthony Patterson has no future at Sunderland
Anthony Patterson was the hero for Sunderland on several occasions during their rise through the divisions in recent years, but he has quickly fallen out of favour in the last few months.
The arrival of Robin Roefs in the summer has bumped the homegrown talent down the pecking order on Wearside, and it looks highly unlikely that he will get his first-team place back any time soon.
The Black Cats’ new number one has already kept four clean sheets during the opening nine league games, and saved a penalty during the victory over Brentford for good measure.
That has kept Patterson firmly on the bench when it comes to Premier League action, and he did little to convince Le Bris to change that with his performance on Wednesday night.
The 25-year-old was beaten twice within the space of half an hour against Anderlecht’s youngsters, which is not the kind of display that you would expect from a senior player who has dropped down to get gametime.
Roefs’ performances since he came into the club were always likely to ultimately spell the end for Patterson, but his display on Wednesday night may have sealed his fate in January.
- Read More: Sunderland’s next goalkeeper Robin Roefs made ‘save of the season’ v ex-Premier League striker
Regis Le Bris has hit the jackpot with Robin Roefs
Sunderland added 15 new faces to their ranks in the summer, but Roefs may just have been their most impressive signing of all.
| Stats | Roefs Total | League Rank |
| Clean Sheets | 4 | =3rd |
| Saves | 33 | 2nd |
| Saves Inside the Box | 22 | =2nd |
| High Claims | 14 | =1st |
| Punches | 7 | =4th |
| Successful Runs Out | 1 | =22nd |
The Dutchman arrived from NEC Nijmegen for a fee of just £11.5million, and he has quickly made that look like a bargain during the early stages of the season.
Roefs has been one of the standout glovemen in the opening weeks of the Premier League campaign, and when you throw in the fact that he has ample room to develop further at the age of 22, Sunderland appear to have settled their goalkeeping future for several years.
Patterson has been a fantastic servant over the years, but it is unlikely that he’ll be able to dislodge Roefs, and he surely won’t want to stick around and be the number two.
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