"He's a great player" - Patrick Roberts issues verdict on Sunderland AFC star who may leave in January | OneFootball

As December fixtures begin to come thick and fast, could this be a window for Aouchiche to prove he can still make it as a Mackem.

Having combined for the Black Cats' dramatic late equaliser, Patrick Roberts ensured to share the plaudits with Adil Aouchiche.

Promotion chasing Sunderland were staring down the barrel of a shock defeat to Bristol City on Tuesday night, after a second-half Luke McNally goal saw the Robins protecting a 1-0 lead as late as the 93rd minute.

However, the fresh legs of Aouchiche, only entrusted with the final quarter-hour, drove down the left-hand side of the box and provided a perfectly weighted cutback to Roberts, who finished emphatically.

While the result will still feel very much like two-points dropped, the congested landscape of the second-tier's summit suggests this leveler could prove vital come May.

Aouchiche's all-important contribution comes at an interesting time, as just this week Régis Le Bris seems to have given his blessing for the 22-year-old to leave the club this winter, but will this spark an unlikely revival to his Wearside career?

Aouchiche an 'intellegent footballer' says Roberts

The headlines will of course surround the goalscorer, though speaking to the Sunderland Echo post-match, the former Celtic winger insisted that while anyone could have belted the ball towards goal in the way that he did, it was his assistant that showed true quality under pressure.

“I've got to give great credit to Adil. He's done nothing but put his head down in training. When he gets his opportunity, he gets his opportunity. I thought he did really well tonight.

"He's a great player. He sees those kinds of plays, and it was just a simple pass, you'd say. He's an intelligent footballer. He just laid it on a plate and I just thought I'd just lash it as hard as I could. I'm thankful it went like that.”

This was just Aouchiche's third appearance of the league season, the attacking midfielder having fallen out of favour on Wearside, largely due to the remarkable development of teenage talent in his area of the pitch.

While still only 22, the former PSG graduate is something of a fallen wonder-kid himself, a trajectory he shares with Roberts.

The pair both shone in separate editions of the UEFA U17 championship; Patrick Roberts scored thrice as England won in 2014, while Aouchiche scored an unbelievable nine goals from midfield in just five matches five years later. Perhaps this rare understanding, having both been tipped as 'the next big thing', goes someway to explaining Roberts' insistence on championing his foreign colleague.

Roberts, who also started the game on the bench, may be being bashful in his downplaying of the late strike, as he is enjoying a tremendous run of form in a competitive Sunderland attack.

His last six home matches have seen him claim an average FotMob rating of 7.5, while his recent performance against Stoke City prompted comparisons to Lionel Messi on Not The Top 20 podcast, albeit tongue-in-cheek hyperbole.

Régis Le Bris infers that Aouchiche can go

With Aouchiche's distinct lack of game time compared to last season, his tenure at the Stadium of Light may be coming to a close.

This speculation can be strongly backed up by a not-so-cryptic statement from Le Bris, who may have alluded to the Sunderland Echo that Aouchiche's frustration in non-inclusion is causing upset in the squad.

“There are players who haven’t really been involved who could maybe leave in January, If you don’t have the opportunity to play, and you have an option with another club that is good for your development, then sometimes that is a good option to take and move on. We will see what happens.

“We have to be mindful of the balance of the team and the squad. You need to have subs who have the right mindset, even if they don’t play a lot. You need players who are always available, good in training sessions and positive on the bench. That is very important, and then you also have to remember that all of the players have a contract. That is another factor. But the players need to play, and you need a squad that has the right dynamic.”

The words, coming just one day before the Bristol City match, infer that the manager actively encourages his countryman seeking a new club.

We must wait and see whether the midfielder's significant midweek impression has changed his fortunes in the North East. As December fixtures begin to come thick and fast, could this be a window for Aouchiche to prove he can still make it as a Mackem.