ROSS UNFAZED BY HIS BUDGET

SUNDERLAND boss Jack Ross says promotion from League One is his only ambition next season — but admits he does not know if he has any money to spend. The 41-year-old was unveiled yesterday as the first managerial appointment of new owner Stewart Donald, who completed his takeover from Ellis Short last week. But mystery surrounds the wealth of Donald — who has paid only £5million of the £40m he owes Short — and Ross also appears in the dark as to his transfer budget. ‘You might not believe this, but in any job I’ve taken on I’ve never really been concerned about budgets,’ said Ross, who has quit St Mirren to head south. ‘It doesn’t really bother me. The challenge for me is to find players that can make the club better. If I can get them, great. If I can’t, I’ll get another one. ‘My job is to get the best out of what I’ve got available. You can look quite easily around the country to see that big budgets don’t always guarantee success.’ Ross’s first job will be trying to move on the likes of Jack Rodwell and Lee Cattermole, who are both earning in excess of £40,000 per week. Sunderland still owe £25m on player purchases and have just one parachute payment of £25m still to come. Ross, though, still believes they can escape the third tier at the first time of asking. ‘You’ve got to have clear objectives and ambitions and, for me, it’s to win promotion,’ he said. ‘If I looked at what’s gone before, I’d think: “Wow, there’s been some big managers who have been here and haven’t managed to get it to work”. But I’m only interested in what lies ahead.’