Friendly defeat shows there’s still a long way to go for new boss
BLACK CATS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS
SUNDERLAND’S friendly defeat at Darlington exposed the weaknesses in the Black Cats’ squad, according to Jack Ross.
Ross saw his first game in charge end in a 1-0 reverse at Blackwell Meadows, with Jordan Nicholson’s goal inside the first 10 minutes enough to give the National League North side victory.
This was only the start of Sunderland’s preparations for their League One campaign but Ross knows his squad is still very much a work in progress.
“First of all, you’re disappointed to lose any game – pre-season friendly or competitive games – and that’s the kind of mentality we are trying to create within the group,” said Ross.
“We were very poor in the first half hour, very passive. Darlington played it like a competitive game and we played it very much like a friendly.
“Thereafter I thought we were OK. In the latter part of the first half and the early part of the second half we were OK without being good.
“We’re still a way away from where we need to be at, but I understood that when I took the job. You can see that from where we are squad-wise in terms of numbers.
“There are a lot of factors at the moment that are preventing us getting things together as quickly as we want to.
“We need to improve a lot on what we have seen tonight to be ready for the first game.”
Strikers and central defenders are urgently needed to address some of Sunderland’s shortcomings.
Ross added: “We have a lot of attack-minded players but very few out-and-out strikers, which will be very important to us next season.
“You can create a lot of chances but if you don’t have goalscorers then it doesn’t matter very much.
“We huffed and puffed a bit in terms of looking like scoring. You can see we are also light in central defence as well.
“I’m pushing as hard as I can to strengthen those areas because I really want to bring them in sooner rather than later, because if they don’t come in until the start of the season there is less time for them to gel and for you to see who you want to play. “It’s part of the transition period we are going through at the moment and I knew that when we came down.” Sunderland took former Blackburn and Port Vale striker Anton Forrester on trial this week and gave him an hour-long runout against Darlington, and Ross plans to take another look at him when the Black Cats take on Hartlepool United at Victoria Park on Saturday. He said: “Anton only came in and
We need to improve a lot on what we have seen tonight to be ready for the first game Jack Ross
joined in with the group yesterday, so he’s only had one day’s training with us.
“It was an opportunity for us to have a look at him and we will have another chance to do that on Saturday.
“We’re very light in numbers in that area at the moment so it would be remiss of me not to take the opportunity to take a look at him.”
Ross involved five of his six new signings on Tuesday night, with goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin the one to miss out due to a groin problem.
But one of those new faces, Turkish centre-back Alim Ozturk, went off after only half-an-hour.
Ross said: “He took a knock on his hip, but nothing serious.”