Tony Mowbray had this brilliant response to rumours of Celtic interest in Sunderland favourite

A bemused Tony Mowbray laughed off suggestions that Patrick Roberts could leave the club before the end of the transfer window, saying the winger is in 'the right place'.

Roberts has entered the final year of his Sunderland contract and there has been some speculation linking him with a move to former club Celtic, as well as Championship rivals Southampton.

Mowbray, who has regularly described the winger as one of the best players in the division and his made him a fixture of his starting XI, is confident 26-year-old is happy on Wearside.

Asked if he was confident Roberts would be at the club after the deadline, Mowbray responded: "Definitely 100%. He's just had a nice new haircut! He's as happy as a sandboy.

"That's news to me, there's people interested in Patrick is there? That's not a concern at all to me.

"Patrick is in the right place, he's rebuilding a career back to the level where I feel as if we can get him to and I hope he enjoys the freedom he's being given to attack and not to worry about losing the ball every now and then," he added.

"When he eliminates people, two or three or four, and we score it's amazing to see. I don't think there's an issue with Patrick."

Roberts is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, and will miss the club's next two fixtures.

However, Mowbray is confident that there is no significant issue and that the winger will be back in action after the international break in early September.

"Patrick is pretty short term," Mowbray confirmed.

"It's a low grade injury and it will only be two weeks but there's an international break in two weeks, so I'm pretty sure Patrick will be training and available for the first game after that international break. It looks like he'll miss two games and then he'll be back.

"That's why you have squads of players. We'll just move on and try our best to win the next two games before he comes back."