Sunderland academy graduate Anthony Patterson is proud of his 'big achievement' after racking up a half-century of appearances for his boyhood club. The 22-year-old goalkeeper made his senior debut for the Black Cats in an EFL Trophy group stage defeat at Fleetwood Town in November 2020 at the start of the run which culminated in winning silverware at Wembley in March 2021, and he went on to reach his 50th appearance in the weekend 1-1 draw at Hull City in the Championship.
Patterson spent part of last season on loan at National League Notts County before being recalled to Wearside in January and established himself as the club's first choice keeper as Sunderland went on to win promotion via the League One play-offs, and has retained his place in the Championship. "Delighted to make my 50th appearance for the club," Patterson told the club website.
"It's a proud moment for me and hopefully there are many more to come. I always dreamed of playing for the club.
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"To reach 50 games for the club is a big achievement for me and I just want to keep pushing on now. I've had some great moments within the 50 games so far and hopefully we can have many more of those memories as well in the future.
"It's not been too many games at senior level but I feel like with every game, I am progressing and learning something new. I just keep applying that to every game, working hard in training and hopefully I am getting better and better each game."
It is no surprise that Patterson picks out the League One play-off final at Wembley in May as his most memorable outing, as he kept a clean sheet against Wycombe Wanderers to help the Black Cats end their four-year stay in the third tier and return to the Championship. "It's got to be the League One play-off final," he said, when asked to pick out a highlight.
"The atmosphere, the occasion and everything about it was just unbelievable. It was amazing to be a part of, to actually play in the game."
Patterson has been an ever-present in the first half of Sunderland's Championship campaign, keeping seven clean sheets in 23 games as Tony Mowbray's side reached the midway point sitting 12th in the table, and just three points outside the play-off places.
He said: "I think we are doing well. We just need to keep pushing on and picking up points. We just need to see how high we can end up finishing this year."
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