Tony Mowbray has opened up on his decision to leave Patrick Roberts out from the start in Sunderland's defeat to Rotherham United.
The former Celtic loanee has been one of the shining lights in recent times for the Black Cats and showed his class recently with a stunning solo goal winner against Reading. His club boss previously spoke about how his talented attacker should be earning 'hundreds of thousands a week' and playing in the English Premier League due to his talent.
He's been a constant figure in the side of late alongside ex -Rangers man Amad Diallo but he was left out last night with his minutes coming from the bench. Mowbray says players are NOT robots and can't play every three days and must be afforded a breather. A start would have been a seventh game on the trot for Roberts - who was hailed for the 'impact' a player of his talent makes when he came on to try and rescue his side, with defeat causing a dent in their English Premier League promotion play-off bid.
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Explaining his big pre-match call, the Sunderland boss told the Northern Echo: “These players are going to get injured unless we’re careful. They’re not robots – they can’t play every three days.
“That would have been seven games in a row for Patrick, playing consecutively every three or four days, so you have to give them a breather.
“Yet you see the impact of a player of his talent when he comes onto the pitch.
“It’s okay. Listen, we haven’t lost away from home since October. It’s not a problem for us, it’s fine, it’s just that we don’t like getting beat.
“We came to Rotherham, who had only won one of their last 13 or whatever it was, and we shouldn’t be losing here. Yet we did, and we’re frustrated.”
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