REGIS Le Bris has jumped to the defence of Anthony Patterson after the goalkeeper's costly clanger against Hull City - and has no plans to drop his No.1.
Patterson fumbled a Joe Gelhardt corner into his own net in as the lowly Tigers stunned Sunderland at the Stadium of Light last Saturday.
The 24-year-old unsurprisingly came in for some criticism after that mistake and had faced questions following Leeds United's late winner five days earlier, but Le Bris has been hugely impressed by Patterson since the head coach's arrival on Wearside in the summer.
And rather than focus on his Hull mistake, Le Bris pointed to Patterson's many crucial contributions that have helped the Black Cats establish themselves as Championship promotion contenders.
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Only five Championship goalkeepers have kept more clean sheets than Patterson this season, and Le Bris said: "He's been really good this season, he's been really good.
"When a striker or goalkeeper makes a mistake like that, the consequences are always different. But Anthony has been a very good goalkeeper for the team so far this season and is still a good goalkeeper.
"He can make mistakes and he has to learn from these experiences and find the best way to finish the season."
While Patterson retains the full backing of his boss, Le Bris also admitted there's always room for improvement.
He said: "We have to be connected with our mission. The mistake is a mistake. When a midfielder makes a mistake like that, the consequences are not the same. For a goalkeeper and a striker, I repeat, it's always different.
"It was probably his first mistake this season. I'm not sure if that's the case for all goalkeepers in the league but at the same time we want to improve his level.
"Sometimes it's not an accident, it means you can improve this or that and pay certain things more attention. It was a good reminder that it's important to focus on specific topics."
Despite being just 24, Patterson will bring up 150 league appearances for Sunderland before the end of the season.
The keeper has been consistently impressive since first establishing himself as No.1 on Wearside.
Le Bris said: "It's important to repeat that. It was the only goal of that game so the consequences were really important.
"But if you focus on the 34 games we've played with him, he's been really good."
