Sunderland are set to face Sheffield Wednesday in their final match of the campaign this weekend.
The end to the 2023/24 season has been long awaited on Wearside, with most fans relieved to finally wash their hands of such a horrific nine months.
Sunderland have absolutely nothing to play for and would do well to even score a goal on Saturday, while the Owls desperately need a result to ensure they avoid relegation.
Sunderland supporters will be a lot more confident of Wednesday’s survival than they will themselves, though that’s because one of their most recent memories with the Black Cats wasn’t a fond one for them.
Why we need to beat Sheffield Wednesday
While we have no bad blood with Wednesday, we should be trying our very best to claim all three points for two reasons.
One, to end the season on a high would be a small relief and one our fans really would deserve. We don’t want to witness the lap of ‘honour’ having just been pummelled by a team staying up by the skin of their teeth.
And two, Wednesday’s relegation makes a move forDanny Rohl a lot more likely. If they stay up, then it would be surprising to see him leave Hillsborough.
But our problem is, if we are to win the game, we need to score goals. When even Jack Clarke is struggling to do so recently, we know we’re in trouble.
But the answer could be a player who hasn’t even scored a goal in a year, but has serious history with the Yorkshire club.
Patrick Roberts’ record against the Owls
Patrick Roberts has been ‘shocking‘ this term, but if we want to beat them psychologically, then bringing in one of their bogey players could be the way forward.
The 27-year-old ‘magician’ quite memorably netted a 93rd minute equaliser in Sunderland’s League One play-off semi-final second-leg – gifting them the win on aggregate and sending them to Wembley.
It was a game that the Black Cats certainly didn’t deserve to win, but Roberts was there to knock the Owls down a peg and forced them to wait another year until they could make their own return.
Roberts’ history with Wednesday doesn’t stop there either. The ‘amazing‘ winger was part of the Derby County team that relegated the Owls in 2021, with Roberts netting the Rams’ second in a dramatic 3-3 draw.
In a game that was less costly, Roberts also picked up an assist in Fulham’s 4-0 hammering of Wednesday back in 2014 too.
We all knew Roberts is looking far from his best, however taking on a team that he has previously had so much success against could give him a real boost – especially when the pressure is off on the final day of the season.