Sinclair vital despite his struggles

JACK Ross insists Jerome Sinclair is an important part of Sunderland’s promotion bid – but admits the on-loan frontman is going through a rough time.

Sinclair is on a season-long loan from Watford but has so far scored just twice in 17 appearances for the Black Cats, with only one of those goals coming in the league.

And with the 22-year-old often exchanging places with 12-goal leading scorer Josh Maja, his record has been thrown into stark relief.

Sinclair endured a torrid time in a poor team performance in the midweek FA Cup exit at the hands of Walsall, and his substitution just before the hour in favour of Maja was greeted by some fans with ironic cheers.

Ross says that reaction will have ‘stung’ Sinclair, but says it is his job to help the player shrug that off and concentrate on producing his best form.

“He’s a loan player that has very much immersed himself in the club, I’ve never felt he has not settled,” said Ross, whose side host Bristol Rovers tomorrow.

“But like any player, it [the crowd reaction on Tuesday] will sting – that’s just human nature.

“If you already have the resilience to shrug it off, great. If you don’t, you have to build it.

“I don’t want to sound coldhearted, but working in this profession you have to be able to do that. I’ll get know more about how he feels about it over the coming days and if he needs help to deal with it, we’ll make sure he gets it and he is stronger for it.

“Every player has these type of moments in their career.

“People have off-nights. I have off-nights, players have off-nights – it’s part of the unpredictability of football.

“The one thing about Jerome is I don’t think you can ever question his attitude.

“It wasn’t just him the other night, it just didn’t happen for several others as well.

“There’s a lot of unseen work that goes on in football on a daily basis and part of that is how you look after players when they are going through difficult times.

“It’s dead easy to speak to them and pat them on the back when they are doing well, but you have to remember to help them when they are going through a tough time.”

Sinclair’s efforts have not translated into goals, but Ross points out that he has played an important role for the team, citing the 1-0 win at Doncaster Rovers in October as one example.

He said: “He has been selfless in a lot of his play and his workrate has never been in question.”