'Sloppy' - Patrick Roberts delivers honest verdict after Sunderland's dramatic draw with Blackburn Rovers

Patrick Roberts wants Sunderland to avoid sloppy starts after the Black Cats drew with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in the Championship on Boxing Day.

Régis Le Bris’ side were poor in the first half and fell a goal down to a Yuki Ohash strike before the interval. However, goals from Chris Rigg and Wilson Isidor spun the contest on its head before Harry Leonard netted a late equaliser for Blackburn Rovers.

When asked if the result felt like a defeat rather than a draw, Roberts answered: “Yeah, I think so. It's like Boxing Day, it can be quite tough for the manager. I'll emphasise that it's a tough period so you need to pick up as many points as you can in this section of the season. Again, we started sloppy again.

“I think we had the opposite problem at the start of the year, we were really good in the first half and then in the second half we were a bit slow and we changed that around, which at times can be exciting because we do get the goals. If you try and yank a score it can be a problem, but we do get the goals and then towards the end as a team, we've got to do better.

“It's one of the things we've got to learn from again and try and start games better. That's what we can take out of the last couple of weeks essentially. We've got two more big games coming up in this period and we've got to put it right.

“It's pretty strange but I think that kind of game obviously came out of the traps quite quick and very intense. It can come at you quite quick and sometimes it's dealing with that in certain ways. I think going into half-time it's a good time to take a break and go out there with a different game plan and get in their face. It's called two goals again. I think at the end it's disappointing to kind of concede at the last minute. It would have been a big three points again, but take a point and go into Sunday.”

Sunderland have now taken 11 points from their last five games (three wins, two draws) all from losing positions. Roberts, however, revealed that Sunderland’s improved tactical performance was down to an increase in intensity rather than any tactical tweak by head coach Le Bris.

“I think we could sense it,” Roberts said after the game on Sunderland’s change in tempo after the half time break. “He (Le Bris) said exactly that. It wasn't to do with tactics. It wasn't anything special. They were just a bit more intense in the first half and it's not like us. We're a very intense team, a very high-press team.

“I think we changed that at half-time and, like I said, we got in their face more and we changed the game in a different way. I think our best is when we're on the front foot and really trying to press teams down and win the ball back. It was called two great goals. Just, like I said, disappointing to finish the game the way it did. We'll move on again. There's another game.”