Sunderland's Anthony Patterson made penalty save from Kieffer Moore

So, when he deflected Kieffer Moore's penalty with his trailing leg in Sunderland's 2-1 win over Sheffield United last night, the goalkeeper was able to reflect on a job well done.

Pre-match research, some mental visualisation and a split-second decision to delay. All of which meant Sheffield United failed to take the lead, and the Black Cats went on to claim a crucial victory.

The Blades were handed a golden opportunity to open the scoring from the spot at the Stadium of Light after Luke O’Nien was penalised for pulling back Moore on the edge of the six-yard box.

However, with Moore slotting straight down the middle, Patterson delayed his dive ever so slightly, enabling him to keep the ball out with his trailing leg.

The Sunderland goalkeeper expected Moore to be on spot-kick duties, and had worked with the Black Cats’ analysts before the game, looking at where the Wales international had placed his previous penalty efforts.

That resulted in the formation of a plan, and Patterson’s penalty saved proved crucial in securing the victory that enabled Sunderland to close within two points of the automatic-promotion positions.

“We get a sheet before every game of the potential penalty takers, and we watch a little bit of the clips and stuff and see if they've got any patterns or techniques or anything like that,” said Patterson, who is developing a reputation as something of a penalty-saving specialist after making previously making stops from Swansea’s Jamal Lowe and QPR’s Ilais Chair.

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“That gives you an indication of where it's going to go, but then it also comes down to luck at the end of the day. You've got to make the saves still, but it's mainly luck.

“That's the hard part, but yeah, we obviously do plenty of research and whoever steps up, it kind of just clicks in your mind that I need to be able to dive this way or the other way or whatever.

“We do our research on the penalty takers, and I’ve sort of dived the right way. I’ve managed to stick a leg out and keep it out, and yeah, that’s what all the research comes to really.”

The victory over Sheffield United helped the Black Cats draw as line under a somewhat disappointing festive period in which costly late concessions against Blackburn and Stoke meant Regis Le Bris’ side had taken just one point from their previous two games.

With Leeds United and Burnley only drawing earlier in the day, the victory meant Sunderland were the only team in the top four to win on New Year’s Day, and they have a good chance to take another step forward when they host Portsmouth on Sunday afternoon.

“I think it was really important that we got the three points (against Sheff Utd),” said Patterson. “It probably wasn't the best we could play in possession, but defensively I thought we were really solid and made it really difficult for Sheffield United. That was important.

“Obviously, we were all gutted to concede two late goals against Blackburn and Stoke, but we showed great character and we all defended really well to protect our lead.

“It's been a quick turnaround as well. We knew it was going to be like that over Christmas, and we found ways to grind out results. Hopefully, it keeps continuing.”