Post by Les on Apr 27, 2019 21:25:07 GMT
www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/17602622.jack-ross-we-havent-given-up-on-automatic-promotion-yet/
Jack Ross: 'We haven't given up on automatic promotion yet'
IT might need something close to a mathematical miracle, but Jack Ross insists Sunderland will head into their final two games of the season still believing they can secure automatic promotion from League One.
If Ross’ side are to scramble back into the top two, they will have to beat Fleetwood Town and Southend United and hope that Barnsley suffer a heavy enough defeat against Bristol Rovers to overturn a seven-goal gap in goal difference. In addition, they also need Portsmouth to fail to win at least one of their remaining two matches against Peterborough United and Accrington Stanley.
The odds are firmly stacked against Sunderland, but Ross is not ruling anything out until it is mathematically impossible.
“We still have an outside chance of achieving what we want to automatically, albeit a long shot,” said the Black Cats boss. “But the only way that even becomes a possibility is if we win our game in hand on Tuesday.
“We’ve had a consistency about everything we’ve done this season, and how we’ve tried to conduct ourselves and prepare, and that will continue to be the case. We want to go and continue the performance level from today into Tuesday, and hopefully win the game, and then see where it takes us at the weekend.
“Whatever lies ahead for us after that, we will prepare for properly and be ready for. The encouraging thing today is that we’ve produced that level of performance against a good team. If we can do that, not only in the next couple of games, but also if there’s games after that, then we’ll be okay.”
Sunderland were the better side for the vast majority of this afternoon’s game, but were unable to reclaim the lead after Jamal Lowe cancelled out Tom Flanagan’s headed opener.
Portsmouth goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray was in inspired form, tipping efforts from Lewis Morgan and Will Grigg onto the post and also making a fine first-half save from Charlie Wyke.
“I couldn’t have asked any more from my players in terms of the performance they gave,” said Ross. “They came into the game under big pressure – both teams did – so to produce that level of performance in those circumstances, I’m proud of them for that.
“It was a frustrating day for us because it’s not an exact science we work in – effort and good performance doesn’t always get you what you deserve. I thought we deserved to win the game, but we haven’t done.
“We’ll have to dust ourselves down from that, but that group of players couldn’t have done any more to try to win the game.”
This afternoon’s game was Sunderland’s 56th of the season, and if they are to be promoted via the play-offs, they will end the campaign having played 61 matches.
The physical and mental demands of such a schedule are obvious, but there is a shared determination to ensure so much hard work and effort does not go to waste.
“We’ve played a lot already this season,” said Ross. “So that’s a lot of games and a lot of work. Physically and mentally, the players are fine. They’re a fit group and they’ve showed that again today.
“If anything, you can use that (the workload) as increased motivation because that’s a lot of hard work that you don’t want to go to waste. You want to get what you think you deserve from the season, so they’ll be okay in that respect. They’ve got plenty in the tank.”
Ross confirmed that Jimmy Dunne’s omission from the starting line-up was a tactical decision, and praised Flanagan for his impact after returning to the first team.
“We felt as if the game would suit Tom, and I thought he did very well,” he said. “I thought he had a really good game defensively. He obviously scored, but his all-round performance was good.
“With the way we wanted to play, we wanted to try to squeeze the game a bit more, and I thought he did that really well.
“I think Jon (McLaughlin) had a quiet day, which you wouldn’t have expected given the quality of the opposition. I think that was testament to our performance, and the two central defenders played a big part in that, they were good.”
Jack Ross: 'We haven't given up on automatic promotion yet'
IT might need something close to a mathematical miracle, but Jack Ross insists Sunderland will head into their final two games of the season still believing they can secure automatic promotion from League One.
If Ross’ side are to scramble back into the top two, they will have to beat Fleetwood Town and Southend United and hope that Barnsley suffer a heavy enough defeat against Bristol Rovers to overturn a seven-goal gap in goal difference. In addition, they also need Portsmouth to fail to win at least one of their remaining two matches against Peterborough United and Accrington Stanley.
The odds are firmly stacked against Sunderland, but Ross is not ruling anything out until it is mathematically impossible.
“We still have an outside chance of achieving what we want to automatically, albeit a long shot,” said the Black Cats boss. “But the only way that even becomes a possibility is if we win our game in hand on Tuesday.
“We’ve had a consistency about everything we’ve done this season, and how we’ve tried to conduct ourselves and prepare, and that will continue to be the case. We want to go and continue the performance level from today into Tuesday, and hopefully win the game, and then see where it takes us at the weekend.
“Whatever lies ahead for us after that, we will prepare for properly and be ready for. The encouraging thing today is that we’ve produced that level of performance against a good team. If we can do that, not only in the next couple of games, but also if there’s games after that, then we’ll be okay.”
Sunderland were the better side for the vast majority of this afternoon’s game, but were unable to reclaim the lead after Jamal Lowe cancelled out Tom Flanagan’s headed opener.
Portsmouth goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray was in inspired form, tipping efforts from Lewis Morgan and Will Grigg onto the post and also making a fine first-half save from Charlie Wyke.
“I couldn’t have asked any more from my players in terms of the performance they gave,” said Ross. “They came into the game under big pressure – both teams did – so to produce that level of performance in those circumstances, I’m proud of them for that.
“It was a frustrating day for us because it’s not an exact science we work in – effort and good performance doesn’t always get you what you deserve. I thought we deserved to win the game, but we haven’t done.
“We’ll have to dust ourselves down from that, but that group of players couldn’t have done any more to try to win the game.”
This afternoon’s game was Sunderland’s 56th of the season, and if they are to be promoted via the play-offs, they will end the campaign having played 61 matches.
The physical and mental demands of such a schedule are obvious, but there is a shared determination to ensure so much hard work and effort does not go to waste.
“We’ve played a lot already this season,” said Ross. “So that’s a lot of games and a lot of work. Physically and mentally, the players are fine. They’re a fit group and they’ve showed that again today.
“If anything, you can use that (the workload) as increased motivation because that’s a lot of hard work that you don’t want to go to waste. You want to get what you think you deserve from the season, so they’ll be okay in that respect. They’ve got plenty in the tank.”
Ross confirmed that Jimmy Dunne’s omission from the starting line-up was a tactical decision, and praised Flanagan for his impact after returning to the first team.
“We felt as if the game would suit Tom, and I thought he did very well,” he said. “I thought he had a really good game defensively. He obviously scored, but his all-round performance was good.
“With the way we wanted to play, we wanted to try to squeeze the game a bit more, and I thought he did that really well.
“I think Jon (McLaughlin) had a quiet day, which you wouldn’t have expected given the quality of the opposition. I think that was testament to our performance, and the two central defenders played a big part in that, they were good.”
