Grigg’s penalty gets rid of ‘monkey on his back’, says Ross

WILL Grigg has finally rid himself of the “monkey on his back” after scoring his first Sunderland goal, according to Jack Ross.

The Black Cats’ £4m deadline day signing has had chances to get off the mark in the last two games but has been unable to take them, so there was delight and relief when Grigg scored from the penalty spot in Sunderland’s 4-2 win over Gillingham. Ross never had any doubt that Grigg would get goals in a red and white shirt, and believes there are plenty more where that came from.

“It’s nice for him to get that monkey off his back, his first goal for the club,” said Ross. “You could see how much it meant to him, and you could see how delighted the other players were as well. He’s a balanced guy and he has a lot of self-belief.”

Aiden McGeady was the most likely candidate to take the kick, having already netted twice from the spot this season, but handed the ball to Grigg and the former Wigan man put Sunderland 3-2 ahead, after Gillingham had twice come from behind.

Ross said: “I’ve never delegated penalty kick taking responsibilities.

“I do on set pieces, but penalties have been one where players themselves decide on the park because how players are performing might affect whether they want to take it or not.

“Aiden gave the opportunity to Will but he only did that believing that Will would score.

“Speaking to Will afterwards, he absolutely believed he would score as well.”

McGeady then scored from the spot himself to round off the win inside the final 15 minutes.