Jack Ross is enjoying the pressure of engineering a promotion charge and he’s called for his players to relish it too.
Sunderland are back in League One action on Friday night, kick-off 7:45pm, as they face Accrington Stanley for their first ever visit to Wearside.
Keen to put back-to-back draws behind them, Ross’ men will look to Tuesday’s second-half attacking display for encouragement as they continue to fine tune their cutting edge.
Speaking at his press conference on Thursday afternoon, Ross also admitted that with the Black Cats playing before the other clubs in League One this weekend it provides the Lads with the chance to apply some pressure on the top two.
“I think everybody is aware of it, I think it goes with the territory of playing for a big club, having a big fan base and having big expectations,” Ross said.
“There’re different ways of doing that. You can play for a club that doesn’t have all those and you don’t have to deal with it, but equally, you don’t get the rewards when things are going well.
“So, we score in the stadium or if we’re winning games, that support that gets behind us should supersede the other side of it.
“You’ve got to be broad-shouldered to deal with it. Manager, staff, players. That’s not by any means a criticism of supporters, it’s just the reality because they’re desperate for us to do well.
“Sometimes that thirst for success or thirst for wins can be displayed in a frustrating manner, but that’s just life, that’s what happens, it’s not always a negative.
“So, I think you saw both sides of it the other night because I think between the goal and half-time, we definitely didn’t deal with it particularly well. There were some younger players in the squad who maybe hadn’t seen that before, so half-time probably came at a good time for us.
“The really pleasing thing for me was, you saw a group of players that took that on, and we’re prepared to say I’m going to be broad-shouldered enough to deal with the expectation in turning the game round.
“Although they didn’t manage to turn it around completely, they did partly, and they also gave a performance that they couldn’t really have done any more to do so.”
FRIDAY FEELING
The weekend starts at the Stadium of Light this Friday, with Hadrian’s Tipi opening in the SAFC Fan Zone from 5.30pm ahead of the Lads’ clash with Accrington Stanley.
Open pre and post-match, the Tipi was a big hit during Tuesday’s game against Blackpool, so get on down and enjoy a pint by the fire ahead of kick-off!
Tickets for the game against Accy remain on sale, with prices starting from just £20 for adults and £7.50 for under-16s.
And this is your last chance to secure your eight-game season card, with Friday’s game including in the package!
