Jack Ross is ready to throw himself into the emotional rollercoaster of the Play-Offs as Sunderland prepare to do battle with Portsmouth.
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- Watch: Ross' Portsmouth press conference
The Black Cats have been preparing hard for their two-legged tie at the Academy of Light, and Ross knows if what’s happened in the Champions League is anything to go by this week then we’re in for one hell of a ride.
On Tuesday, Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to stun Barcelona and world football with a brilliant display to eclipse them 4-0 before Tottenham Hotspur’s Lucas Moura rolled home a 96th-minute winner 24 hours later to complete a remarkable comeback.
Spurs trailed 2-0 at half-time and 3-0 on aggregate going into the second 45, but an inspired late showing saw Moura saw him bag a hat-trick in the most dramatic of fashions to reiterate for the second night running just how beautiful the game of football is.
“Timing-wise it’s probably a brilliant time for me to say it doesn’t matter,” Ross said when asked at his press conference about if he’d have preferred playing at home in the second leg.
“In the last two nights I’ve just watched two brilliant games which shows it makes not a jot of difference.
“Traditionally it was always seen as better to be at home in the second leg and at one point it shifted, but the truth is, is doesn’t make a difference, as the past two nights show.
“I hope we don’t find ourselves in a position over the two games where we don’t have to claw our way back from two or three goals behind, that would certainly be the ideal scenario," he continued.
“I think Spurs and Liverpool are a nice example again for people, and I’m not just saying this to deflect away from the responsibility of a manager or a coach, but it’s a nice reminder that we work in a sport that’s incredible unpredictable and that’s why we watch it and that’s why so many have commented in the last 48 hours saying they love football.
“Some of the best players in the world make decisions in high-pressure situations that they wouldn’t normally, but they get caught up in the emotion.
“And any communication from a team-mate or a manager on the sideline becomes nigh on impossible because of the noise inside a stadium during these games.
“It’s a nice reminder. Some people believe the game is played by numbers but it’s far from that. The truth is it comes down to fine margins all the time and I think that will be the case over the next two or three weeks as well.”
