Post by Les on Mar 28, 2019 11:42:46 GMT
www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderlands-cup-final-appearance-no-16038405
Sunderland's cup final appearance will have no bearing on their promotion campaign
Jack Ross says Sunderland's Checkatrade Trophy final outing this weekend must be seen as a standalone game
Sunderland's Checkatrade Trophy final outing will not have any bearing on the League One promotion race, insists Jack Ross.
The Black Cats face promotion rivals Portsmouth at Wembley on Sunday in the cup final, before resuming their league campaign at Accrington Stanley on Wednesday night.
Victory this weekend would see Sunderland end their 46-year wait for silverware and there is a school of thought that a cup win could provide the catalyst for the remaining nine games of their promotion run-in - or, alternatively, that defeat could strike a psychological blow which could have a negative effect.
But Ross says the cup final should be regarded as a standalone game, with no knock-on effect on Sunderland's promotion fate.
"I genuinely don't think it will have any bearing," said Ross.
"We have to take the cup final on its own merit.
"It would be remiss of me to say that if we won on Sunday it would ensure that everything would be fantastic [in the league].
"The players understand that, after the final, we have nine league games in a short period of time.
"They know where we are in the league at the moment, everything else that is going on, where we can get to points total-wise.
"It would be nice to win it, of course, more than anything from point of view just to keep that unbeaten run going having not lost for such a long period of time.
"It's more a case of that than winning the final would have any kind of significance as far as the league is concerned."
Pompey took advantage of Sunderland's blank weekend last Saturday to leapfrog the Wearsiders and go third in the table, albeit they have played two games more than the fourth-placed Black Cats.
Sunderland are 10 points behind leaders Luton Town and five behind second-placed Barnsley but have two games in hand of each, and will have three games in hand of them with the Hatters travelling to Bristol Rovers this weekend while the Tykes are at home to Coventry City.
Sunderland's cup final appearance will have no bearing on their promotion campaign
Jack Ross says Sunderland's Checkatrade Trophy final outing this weekend must be seen as a standalone game
Sunderland's Checkatrade Trophy final outing will not have any bearing on the League One promotion race, insists Jack Ross.
The Black Cats face promotion rivals Portsmouth at Wembley on Sunday in the cup final, before resuming their league campaign at Accrington Stanley on Wednesday night.
Victory this weekend would see Sunderland end their 46-year wait for silverware and there is a school of thought that a cup win could provide the catalyst for the remaining nine games of their promotion run-in - or, alternatively, that defeat could strike a psychological blow which could have a negative effect.
But Ross says the cup final should be regarded as a standalone game, with no knock-on effect on Sunderland's promotion fate.
"I genuinely don't think it will have any bearing," said Ross.
"We have to take the cup final on its own merit.
"It would be remiss of me to say that if we won on Sunday it would ensure that everything would be fantastic [in the league].
"The players understand that, after the final, we have nine league games in a short period of time.
"They know where we are in the league at the moment, everything else that is going on, where we can get to points total-wise.
"It would be nice to win it, of course, more than anything from point of view just to keep that unbeaten run going having not lost for such a long period of time.
"It's more a case of that than winning the final would have any kind of significance as far as the league is concerned."
Pompey took advantage of Sunderland's blank weekend last Saturday to leapfrog the Wearsiders and go third in the table, albeit they have played two games more than the fourth-placed Black Cats.
Sunderland are 10 points behind leaders Luton Town and five behind second-placed Barnsley but have two games in hand of each, and will have three games in hand of them with the Hatters travelling to Bristol Rovers this weekend while the Tykes are at home to Coventry City.
