MARCO PRAISES ROEFS

Marco Gabbiadini has spoken about Sunderland's 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace and explained what impresses him most about Robin Roefs' performance.

GREAT AWAY RESULT

“Palace, I think, are one of the form teams in the Premier League from last season into this season. They've had a cup win recently and a win at Wembley in the Charity Shield, so a team that's sort of on the up, you would say. They're always going to be one of those teams that will sell their better players, but they seem to replace them and, you know, they've got some good players. So I thought that was a great result."

IMPRESSIVE

“You know, you can't ask for any more - a tight game, but you wouldn't say Palace had too much time on top. Now, they did have some chances and the goalkeeper [Roefs] did very well. But, you know, I think he really impressed me."

ALL SAVEABLE SHOTS

“I think they were all saves that I think if he'd have conceded off any of those goals, he would have been disappointed. I'm not taking anything away, I do think they were all really good saves, strong saves."

CALM AND READY

“He's very still. If you watch him, he's not one of these keepers that's skipping about and jumping about when the ball is in motion. When it's going into a striker, he's always very still. So then he can make his move when he's ready, when he sees what body angle the striker's got or where he thinks the ball's going to go. And he makes good reaction saves. Great start for him, obviously, off the back of that penalty save two weeks ago."

DEFENSIVE UNIT

“And I think defensively the team are pretty solid. The chance in the first half that was a one-on-one with the keeper, and Reofs got out to him very quickly, put it wide. That was a little concern that he was just wide open right through the middle of the field. That was the only real lapse in concentration in the game, really. The rest of it was maybe just a bit of pressure.”

BRILLIANT START

“But, look, fantastic start to the season. The fans must be absolutely delighted with how it's going. And with all these new faces having to respond to a new manager, a new voice, as they say nowadays, they've all attributed themselves really well.”