Mental strength has never wavered, says Jack

Jack Ross hailed his side’s mental strength as they closed the gap to rivals Barnsley.

Sunderland’s 2-0 win at struggling Bristol Rovers, coupled with Barnsley’s goalless draw at promotion rivals Portsmouth, saw the Black Cats cut the gap to second place to two points.

Luke O’Nien’s close-range finish gave Sunderland the lead, Aiden McGeady’s brilliant free-kick in the second half sealing victory.

A clean sheet and three points on the road, and backto-back wins following the victory over Gillingham, ensured this has been a very good week.

Asked whether the selfbelief was growing after getting back to winning ways following a run of draws, Ross said: “There was genuinely no change in the belief in the changing room, I didn’t sense that for one moment.

“It was my job to make sure they maintained that level-headedness. The players are pleased, satisfied and enjoy the feeling, it is another one knocked off. We keep getting results like this, we give ourselves a good chance.

“Even when they were getting a bit more stick [during the recent run of draws] they were good and resilient. The have shown time and again they have character.” Ross added: “As you go towards the end of the season you need to have that mental strength, that character. It is about remaining focused and controlling the controllables. “We have done that really well, it is about concentrating on what we do. I don’t have to worry about that side of things.

“To play for this club you have to be resilient and show mental strength, they have shown that in abundance.”

And Ross was full of praise for Luke O’Nien, who scored his fifth goal of the season in the 2-0 win. Ross added: “Luke will always score goals, he is a very good finisher.

“He’s up there with the best finishers at the club, not that he had to show that today but he has that hunger to score goals.”