Patrick Roberts is looking forward to returning to Fulham with Sunderland in the FA Cup - almost eight years after he lined up for the Cottagers against the Black Cats in the same competition. Sunderland head to Craven Cottage tomorrow to take on Marco Silva's Premier League side in the fourth round of the cup, having overcome League One Shrewsbury Town earlier this month to reach this stage.
But back in February 2015, Sunderland were the top flight side taking on Championship Fulham in South West London in the fourth round. Sunderland won 3-1 that day, and Roberts came on as a late substitute for Fulham - the club where he began his career - just a couple of days shy of his 18th birthday.
Roberts joined Manchester City at the end of that season and his career has since included loan stays at Celtic, Girona, Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Derby County, and Troyes, before he arrived at Sunderland 12 months ago. He has been back to Craven Cottage only once since leaving in the summer of 2015, losing 1-0 there in the Championship with Boro in January 2020, and this weekend's game will be a welcome return to the club that gave him his big break.
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"It's been a long time since I've been back - I've been back maybe once in seven or eight years [since leaving]," said Roberts. "It's where I grew up playing, and they were the first club to give me an opportunity to start my career.
"I know what the place is like, I know what the fans are like, and it will be a good game of football between a team that is doing well in the Premier League and a team like us that is gradually doing better and better with every game. It should be a good tie and I'm looking forward to it.
"I don't really remember a lot of it because it was so long ago and time passes by so quickly. When you do get the opportunity to go back, it rekindles those memories in your head.
"I started my career there and I'm forever grateful to them for that. I started my journey there but I'm at an even bigger club now and I'm enjoying it and I want to carry on in that same kind of way."
The cup game gives Sunderland some respite from their Championship campaign, with Roberts adding: "I think it will be a good test. We need it, because you go from Championship games where everything gets a bit nervy because winning and losing is so important, but in the FA Cup you can take a step back.
"It's a week off the fixtures in the league and you can go and enjoy it at a different place, a different venue, and some of the lads have maybe not played at a Premier League ground so it will be good for that. We'll take it in our stride and enjoy it and hopefully get the win."
Sunderland beat another of Roberts' old clubs Boro last weekend, with the midfielder providing an assist for Amad for the second goal at the Stadium of Light and also delivering the pass which set Ross Stewart away in the incident that led to the striker earning a penalty and the visitors being reduced to ten men. He said: "It was a good game - a tough game for us against a good team with good momentum under a new manager.
"But at our place we like to get our fans out of their seats and play good football against a team that is similar to us in style of play, and we came out on top."
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