Sunderland are in the Play Off final after a hard-fought draw at Pompey. Jack Ross had this to say afterwards. “There’s different opinions about how you should feel after winning a semi-final. I think you could see from our reactions that we’re pleased, we’re satisfied, because it’s a difficult place to come and get a result. But we know we’ve still got one big game ahead of us. We’ll enjoy it – it’s a happy dressing room in there and the players are happy with what they’ve done – but we’ll also recognise that there’s a week of preparation to come and a huge game to follow that as well. I’ve always been clear about what my ambitions were,” he said. “I didn’t come to England to manage in League One for more than one season, I want to be in the Championship and I want to take the club there. When we missed out on automatic, we knew we had another opportunity to do it. People keep telling me it’s the best way to do it – I don’t know if I necessarily agree with them, I’d like to be on holiday right now with promotion secured. But I understand what they mean by it because of the excitement and the tension that was around these games. We’re back at Wembley, in front of a big crowd, and we’ll look forward to it when it comes around. When you come into these ties, you have to find a way of winning the game over two legs,” added Ross. “We knew coming here in the second leg would be tough. It’s a difficult environment, the fans create an incredible atmosphere, and you have to deal with that. We had a game plan, and a way we wanted to play, and I think we did it pretty well. Ultimately, it’s about coming out on top over the two games and we did that.”
Ross also spoke about the Portsmouth supporter who kicked and a punched Luke O’Nien. “I asked the fourth official, and he said a supporter had swung an arm at him, which isn’t great,” said Ross. “But I wouldn’t want to make too big a deal of it because I’ve enjoyed the two occasions, I’ve come here this season, I think it’s a proper football ground. One idiot shouldn’t tarnish that fanbase.”
