Stepping out in the colours of your boyhood club is a dream in itself but for Anthony Patterson, he is revelling in his latest achievement after Sunderland’s number one goalkeeper clocked up his 50th appearance for the first-team.
The young shotstopper came through the academy before making his debut against Fleetwood Town in the Papa John’s Trophy.
After signing a new two-year contract and having a loan spell with National League side Notts County, Patterson returned to Wearside in January earlier this year where he would go on to hold down a place in the first-team.
From there, the 22-year-old played a major role in helping the Lads secure promotion from League One whilst continuing to hold down a place in Tony Mowbray’s team during the first half of their first season back in the Championship.
It was Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hull City where he secured his landmark appearance for the club. “Delighted to make my 50th appearance for the club” said Patterson. It’s a proud moment for me and hopefully there is many more to come.
“I always dreamed of playing for the club. 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 them 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 every game. I just keep applying that to every game, working hard in training and hopefully I am getting better and better each game.”
When asked about his most memorable appearance for the Black Cats, he responded: “It’s got to be the League One play-off final. 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.”
After the weekend’s draw with the Tigers, Patterson has been satisfied with the team’s progress as they perch themselves in the top half of the table going into Boxing Day’s home tie against Blackburn Rovers.
He added: “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.”
Congratulations Patto!