St Mirren friendly’s not about me, insists Cats boss Ross

Jack Ross insists that today’s penultimate pre-season friendly against former side St Mirren is not about him, but another chance for Sunderland to build a winning mentality.

Ross guided St Mirren to the Scottish Championship title last season before accepting the challenge of helping revive Sunderland’s fortunes.

He returns to Paisley for the first time this afternoon and hopes to be celebrating a Sunderland win.

The Black Cats’ pre-season started with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Darlington and a 1-1 draw at Hartlepool United, where a last-gasp Benji Kimpioka strike saved the day. But Ross (pictured) believes the hard work on the training pitches at the Academy of Light is starting to be reflected in an improvement in performances. Tuesday night saw Sunderland beat League Two club Grimsby Town 1-0 and Ross believes St Mirren, preparing for life in the Scottish Premiership under new boss Alan Stubbs, will be another step up in standard.

Ross said: “Every game I am enjoying more. Every game you go into you feel more prepared.

“The players have been very responsive and you are starting to see the fruits of that.

“Saturday is not about me, it is about us getting another game and seeing more improvement.

“It is nice to go back there and it will be nice to leave with a win. We have improved results as we have gone along – every game we have played has been a step up in standard and Saturday will be another step-up.

“It is a good progression for us and hopefully we will have potentially more numbers in by then to help us with the challenges.

“The players that are playing are getting better with every game.”

After today’s game, Sunderland have just one more friendly, away to Middlesbrough on Friday night.