Patrick Roberts says Sunderland's Plan B worked a treat at Reading as they scored three times despite playing for more than half the match without a recognised striker. The Black Cats were already without injured top scorer Ross Stewart for the trip to the Madejski Stadium, and when Ellis Simms - their only other senior frontman - limped off with a toe problem shortly before half-time, boss Tony Mowbray was forced into a rethink.
But with Alex Pritchard playing as a false nine, and with Roberts and Elliot Embleton providing support, Sunderland went on to win convincingly. Roberts scored twice in the first half, with Embleton providing both assists, before Jack Clarke finished a brilliant team goal 20 minutes from time.
"It's exactly what we planned to kind of do," said Roberts. "We knew we'd be light with players and, with Ross getting injured and then Ellis coming off, we had to do something different.
