The 25-year-old joined Sunderland in the last winter transfer window from Manchester City and helped the Black Cats earn promotion to the Championship.
This season, the right winger fell out of favour under previous boss Alex Neil and failed to start any of the first six league fixtures for Sunderland.
But Roberts impressed Mowbray with his abilities and earned a regular spot in the Black Cats’ starting line-up.
The Wearsiders boss stressed that Roberts has all the capabilities necessary to become a Premier League player and expressed his bafflement as to why the right winger is not playing in the top division of English football.
Mowbray underlined that the skills Roberts possesses are impossible for a manager to teach but he believes that he can help the player by pushing him hard to fulfil his potential.
“I find it hard to understand how Patrick Roberts was in League One”, Mowbray was quoted saying by Chronicle Live.
“Something must have happened in his life or his career, because his talent is Premier League.
“And Jack Clarke is a potential Premier League talent.
“Managers can’t teach Patrick Roberts to skip past players like he does, stick the ball through people’s legs and then bend it in the corner, but I can teach him about his positional play and how hard he has to work and I can drive him really tough.
“If he’s 25 now, Patrick, he’s potentially got five, six, seven, years if he wants to get to the Premier League.”
Sunderland won 2-1 against Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day and Roberts played a key role in the Black Cats’ victory.
