Patrick Roberts insisted he would enjoy the moment after Sunderland secured promotion back to the Championship following a four-year stint in League One. The Black Cats winger signed a short-term deal with the club in January but has played a key part in their revival since the transfer window closed.
The former Manchester City prospect scored the vital goal in the second-leg of the play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday and was a major threat in the final against Wycombe. For all the hype around Roberts when he was younger, he's been unable to break into the Man City First Team and now calls Sunderland home.
The 25-year-old said he'd wait and see what the next few weeks hold for himself but was full of praise for Alex Neil at the full-time whistle. "I've no idea to be honest, that's for the next few weeks," he said. "I'll just enjoy tonight and do whatever I can see what happens. We'll have a few drinks and a lot of partying. You've got to enjoy these moments. I think Sunderland fans will enjoy theirs more."
READ MORE: Emotional Lynden Gooch, Luke O'Nien's embrace and a touch of class from Sunderland after promotion
The current group of Sunderland players have enjoyed success where so many others have failed and Roberts believes the club is finally on the right track. "It's up there, it's definitely up there," he said when asked how high the moment ranked in his career. "I've won a few trophies up north but at a club like Sunderland, after years of trying to do it, we're back in the direction everyone wants to be in. It's massive and the few times they've been here, I've obviously been here to get them back up.
"I've only been here six months but you can see since the manager has came in, all the players have come in and the ones that are here, it means a lot. At the start of the season we had a rocky period with everything going on, we've steadied ourselves, got the wins and results and we can enjoy tonight and the summer.
"We knew it would be a tough game. We knew we had the quality and I think they were a bit nervous straight off. We kind of got into our rhythm first-half, obviously Embo [Elliot Embleton] scoring the goal was a big help.
"At half-time they just said do the same. They put some pressure on us but we kept at it. We know they'd come and try and launch it and be direct but we just needed one chance to see the game off and when you have a striker like Ross Stewart, it's the man you want it to go to."
Sunderland took a slender lead into the break, but the message from the Black Cats head coach was more of the same. Roberts said: "The gaffer thought we were doing really well. We had them really penned in and they didn't really give us much. Apart from if we gave away a foul and they'd pump it in or if the goalkeeper launched it up but I thought we did really well to counteract that and we made them pay.
"Jack [Clarke] played really well in the semi-final and Embo came in today and scored the goal. It's the kind of squad we have, it's good to have and it's good for morale, good for competition. He came in and I thought he did really well.
"I was pleased for everyone, the manager, the club, myself. He's trusted me to play here and I'm grateful to play as well. I'm just happy we got it done today."
The Black Cats winger said red and white supporters were right to be confident heading into the game with over 46,000 in attendance at Wembley. Roberts added: "It was huge. I think this year especially, even from the crowds at the Stadium of Light. Some years gone bye they've worried about getting to this and bottling it. I think, speaking for them, they felt confident in us, which they should have been.
"We just had to go out there and play the football we knew and that's what we did. I'm sure they'll be proud of us tonight and we can all go home happy, that's the main thing."
Sunderland have been an impressive run of form since Neil's appointment and Roberts was full or praise for the Scot. "He's come in with an idea of what to play," said Roberts.
"He doesn't really give a lot of nonsense he speaks the truth and says it how it is. He said 'You need to do this, we've been lacking on.' Sort us out defensively and we knew we had the quality up front and we just had to exploit that which we did today.
"We knew some of the troubles they'd have and something me Alex [Pritchard], Ross [Stewart] and Embo had to capitalise on. Two of them scoring was great and I could have scored myself. On another day that maybe goes in but I'm just pleased to get over the line and get promoted."
The long-term aim of the club is of course promotion back to the Premier League but Roberts was keen to play down any talk of back-to-back promotions. When asked if the club would be happy with survival, he said: "Of course not, the stature of the club they want to improve every year and this is just one bit of the journey to get out this league. We've done that, the next thing is to rebuild and go from there and get back to the Premier League.
"That'll be the aim I'm sure for the people involved with Sunderland. From here that will be my aim as well. You never know, football is a crazy game so you've just got to have that belief and structure. Then go from there."
