Jack Ross responds to frustration from Sunderland fans and discusses home pressure

The Black Cats will once again to take to home soil as they welcome Accrington Stanley tomorrow evening in a televised clash.

And they will be looking to go one better than Tuesday's visit of Blackpool in which the hosts required a late Jack Baldwin leveller to claim a point.

Sunderland's performance against the Seasiders drew frustration from some quarters, but Ross believes such a response is natural given the size of the club and the expectation that promotion be attained.

Indeed, the Sunderland chief feels that the pressure that comes with playing in front of large crowds is worth embracing - especially considering the rewards that follow when things go right.

"I think everybody is aware of it and it goes with the territory," said Ross of the pressure.

"You're playing for a big club who have a big fanbase and big expectations.

"There's different ways of doing that - you can play for a club that doesn't have all those and you don't have to deal with it, but equally you don't get the rewards when things go well.

"If we score in the stadium or if we're winning games then that support that comes behind us should always supersede the other side of it.

"But you've got to be broad-shouldered to deal with it - managers, staff and players.

"That's not a criticism of the supporters, that's just the reality of it.

"They're desperate for us to do well and sometimes that thirst for success or that thirst for wins can be displayed in a frustrated manner.

"That's just life. It's what happens and it's not always a negative."

Ross, though, believes his Sunderland side have what it takes to deal with that frustration when it manifests itself.

And although they took time to do so on Tuesday evening, he believes little more could have been asked of his playing squad.

"I think we saw both sides of it the other night because between their goal and half-time we definitely didn't deal with it particularly well.

"There were some younger players and others in the squad who maybe hadn't seen that before, so half-time probably came at a good time for us.

"But the really pleasing thing for me was seeing a group of players in the second half who took that on and were prepared to be broad-shouldered enough to deal with the expectation of turning the game around.

"Although they couldn't turn it around completely they did partly, and they gave a performance in that they couldn't really have done any more to do so."