Ahead of the trip to Shrewsbury, Jack Ross is totally focused on winning promotion for Sunderland AFC.
"We can talk about it being a new group of players and what have you, I think we've done well to change the culture so quickly," said Ross. "It is now about taking the step and being relentless in the pursuit of our goal, not just being satisfied and saying 'fifth in the league is alright', but I don't think this group of players will settle for that. They want to be better, and they believe they can be. You get consumed by the league, working out ways to win every week, and you know that when you get to the point where you are winning every week you will be top of the league because they go hand-in-hand! I won't be satisfied until we get there. I want to be successful, and I don't just mean bringing stability back to this club, I mean being top of the league and being promoted. I probably build the expectation up myself, in terms of setting targets and ambitions for myself. Ultimately, I think I will only consider my time here as a success if I can get this club back to the level that people believe it should be at. That might take a while, but that's what I will judge myself on. When it comes to expectations and pressure, people have different views on how you should deal with it," he added. "Some believe you should shelter players from pressure and expectation, but I think the opposite - I think you should meet it head on, acknowledging it's there and talking about it. I'm privileged to have this job, I feel that when I am on the touchline at the Stadium of Light with 30,000-plus spectators. I carry that expectation and I am happy to do that. I'd rather that than play it down and try to lower expectations. There should be big expectations here. I'll live or die by them, but that's the way it is whether you embrace them or if you try and play them down. It's striking the right balance with players where they go into every game believing that they can win, without feeling they have the right to win just by turning up. It's something I've been conscious of from my very early days here.”
