Kevin Phillips has urged Sunderland supporters to be “patient” with Habib Diarra

Sunderland icon Kevin Phillips has urged supporters to be “patient” with record signing Habib Diarra after his costly miss against Aston Villa at the weekend.

Despite being 3-1 behind with just four minutes left on the clock at Villa Park, the Black Cats fought back to level the contest courtesy of goals from Trai Hume and Wilson Isidor.

As the game then headed into stoppage time, Diarra was presented with a golden opportunity to win it for the visitors, but after racing through on goal, his dinked effort was well-saved by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Moments later, Villa would find a winner of their own thanks to substitute Tammy Abraham.

What has Kevin Phillips said about Sunderland star Habib Diarra?

In the aftermath of his miss, Diarra came in for criticism from some Sunderland supporters, but speaking exclusively to The Echo, courtesy of BestBettingSites, Phillips argued that fans on Wearside need to bide their time to see the very best from the £30 million man.

He said: “It's a tough one. The fans are hurting after that, an opportunity. It just shows you fine margins in football. You don't take your opportunity, then the other team goes up the end and scores. So, you can see the disappointment in the fans, him not scoring that, then obviously not winning the game.

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“I can understand the reaction. Listen, they paid a lot of money for him. He's their top signing, £30 million. And the fans probably would have expected a lot more than what they've seen so far. But he has grown into the Premier League in the last five... I would say five, six, seven games. And of course, when you miss a big opportunity like that, you're going to come in for some criticism because you are the top signing at the football club.

“So, he's a good player. I think they do need to be a little bit patient. And I think next season you'll probably see the best of him. It's interesting now, how he reacts after the weekend. But they have to be a bit patient. But I know the North East fans, they expect him to deliver straight away.”

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