Patrick Roberts says Sunderland's forwards must start hitting the net more often to share the load with sole striker Joe Gelhardt. Roberts chipped in with his fourth of the season yesterday as he scored the only goal in the Black Cats' narrow win against Reading at the Stadium of Light - and it means that three of his goals this season have now come against the Royals, after he scored twice in the 3-0 win at the Madejski Stadium back in September.
Aside from Roberts, Jack Clarke has also hit four in the league while on-loan Manchester United man Amad has scored seven times already. And their contributions will be important in the final three months of the season with Leeds United loanee Gelhardt the club's only specialist centre-forward now that ten-goal top scorer Ross Stewart has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with an Achilles injury, and with Everton having recalled Ellis Simms from his loan spell on Wearside at the beginning of January.
Roberts' latest goal against Reading came five minutes from time as he exchanged passes with Trai Hume down the right and got into the penalty area, and while Royals defender Baba Rahman looked to have the situation under control Roberts then stole the ball off him and applied the finish. "I got a bit of luck but you need luck in this game," said Roberts.
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"Once I came inside I just had it in my mind to hit the target and put it in the back of the net - tha's what a lot of us have got to do more [often], especially with just Joffy [Gelhardt] up there. Most of my goals this season have been against Reading - it would be nice to play them more often!
"It just so happens that sometimes you score against some teams more than others and this was that day, but I was just glad to be able to help the team get three points and hopefully I can do it again on Tuesday [when Sunderland take on QPR at Loftus Road] and for the rest of the season."
Sunderland found it difficult to get going against a Reading side that seized every opportunity to waste time and prevent the Black Cats playing their brand of free-flowing, attacking, football. Roberts said: "They are a tough team and came here to do a certain job.
"We like to play football and they kind of stopped [us doing] that and had different threats for us but I thought as a collective we did really well. We changed the game at times, brought players on with the new lads coming in, but we stuck together and it was nice to score again but the most important thing was the three points and now we are on to Tuesday."
The win was the perfect tonic after Sunderland's FA Cup exit at the hands of Premier League Fulham in midweek, but despite that result Roberts says the Black Cats performed well against the side where he began his career. He said: "You could even see in the two cup games we matched them really well, and they are a Premier League side who are doing really well.
"We've got some good young players - I think I was the second youngest out there against Reading - and we have a great team morale here, we just want to keep winning, keep doing the club proud, and keep enjoying our football, and hopefully the fans can see that and enjoy it with us."
Sunderland's young side has adapted well to life to life in the Championship after winning promotion from League One via the play-offs last term. Their win against Reading lifted them to seventh place in the table and they are now just a single point outside the play-off places, and their challenge for a top-six finish is a mouthwatering prospect for fans.
"I think it's been important all season," Roberts said of the fans' backing. "It was important last year, too, to help us get over the line. It's carried on this year but they haven't put too much pressure on us which is important when you've got quite a few young players in the side.
"They've been really patient. They obviously want to see us win and we just have to keep on trying to do that. There's still a long way to go and we have more to do and more to show.
"We just want to keep on going and see where we can get."
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