Sunderland boss on Anthony Patterson's exciting progress amid Premier League interest

Patterson has been on international duty over the break after winning his first call up into the U21 setup, having established himself as Sunderland's first-choice goalkeeper over the course of the last twelve months.He has played every Championship fixture so far this season, drawing the attention of numerous Premier League clubs in the process. Leicester City have been heavily linked with a move for goalkeeper, who was named the North East Football Writers' Association Young Player of the Year earlier this month.

Mowbray has opened up on the youngster's development, admitting that his distribution remains a work in progress but underlining the remarkable poise and composure with which the 22-year-old continues to play.

The head coach added that despite being so early in his career, Patterson has few real faults in his game.

"I wasn't here at the start of this journey, how he broke into the team, who he replaced, how that happened - and yet he's obviously played in some pretty big football matches for the club and has done exceptionally well and continues to do exceptionally well," Mowbray said.

"That's down to the personality really, the traits he brings, the calmness. Some goalies are a box of frogs always shouting about, jumping, screaming at everyone and then you have a band of goalies who are super calm and cool and know how to do their job. Then you get brilliant goalies who are both.

"Anthony is just a big steady guy who is really good at keeping the ball out of his net and dealing with crosses. He has growth areas as you'd expect of a young goalkeeper, his distribution at times needs to be worked on and is getting worked on. But he doesn't have many faults or what I would call faults. It's amazing to think of what he's like when he's 30 and still got six to eight years still to play when he's so young now and so good at what he does. He obviously has a big future.

"It's richly deserved, I think. As I've said week in, week out the steadiness and composure he brings, the fact he makes big saves that help you win football matches. I'm delighted for him.

"It will be great for him to go into a different working environment with three other goalkeepers and different coaches for England and do the work and see what it's like in that environment.

"It's great for the club and obviously great for him, and hopefully he's enjoyed it."

Patterson is due back on Wearside on Tuesday after the U21s play Croatia, with Mowbray facing a nervous wait to see if his other arrivals return fit to face Burnley on Friday.

Jewison Bennette, Abdoullah Ba and Edouard Michut were all in action over the course of Tuesday, limiting Mowbray’s preparation time for the trip to top-of-the-table Burnley.