Jack Ross says Sunderland's march to Checkatrade Trophy final means more after wretched few years
Tuesday 5 March 2019 22:42, UK
Sunderland manager Jack Ross said reaching the Checkatrade Trophy final meant even more after the club's wretched few years.
The Black Cats have finally bottomed out after they suffered back-to-back relegations in their previous two seasons, sitting two points off the League One automatic promotion spots with a game in hand.
But after finishing bottom of the Premier League and Championship in consecutive campaigns, Jack Ross told Sky Sports after leading his side to Wembley: "It means a lot from where the club's been in the last couple of years, what it's been through, having this to look forward to is massive for everyone connected with the club.
"It means a huge amount to the club, we've taken this competition seriously from the outset, and when you get to this stage you want to go that step further.
"It always helps with any promotion push, reaching a final means you have to win games during a tournament. The way this game fell was that it came among important league games, but it means we have good form and momentum.
"There were a lot of incentives for us to win tonight, to get to the final but also to keep the run of victories and clean sheets going."
Sunderland will face a Wembley date on March 31 against Portsmouth - the last team to beat Ross' men, back in December - but the former St Mirren boss has no fear against coming up against them again in the capital.
He said: "It'll be fantastic, we played them at Fratton Park and it was a terrific occasion. They beat us that day, we don't play them again until the end of the season.
"We know how good a side they are, they've had a terrific season to date - it's two big clubs in this final, there'll be a good crowd and it's something we'll have to park for now.
"We've got a lot of important league games between now and then, but we'll very much look forward to it when it comes around."
