Ross admits late leveller left Sunderland flat

Posted Tuesday, April 23, 2019 by PA

Jack Ross admitted Sunderland will need a big lift after a late equaliser condemned them to a 1-1 draw at Peterborough which could prove fatal for their automatic promotion hopes.

Matt Godden rescued a point for Posh in the first minute of added time, just four minutes after Max Power had fired in a 25-yard opener.

Power’s strike sparked wild scenes in the away end, with one fan being arrested for a pitch invasion.

The draw means Sunderland, who face third-placed Portsmouth on Saturday, must rely on second-placed Barnsley to drop points if they are to go up automatically.

Ross said: “There’s no other word to describe it than frustrating. The players did not leave anything out there.

“Both teams made changes to try and effect the game in a positive sense – both teams needed to win.

“In terms of what the players have given, they could not have given more.

“We have three games we need to go and win and see where that takes us.

“It’s disappointing as we played well, especially in the first half. It’s a quiet dressing room at the moment because they’ve put so much into it and did not get three points.

“It’s my job to lift the players. We have a big home match on Saturday.

“It’s a tough league and we’ve competed at the top end all season long. There were not many spare seats and it felt like a cup tie.

“The players deserve a lot of credit, they’ve done a lot to be where they are.”

Sunderland had created the best chances in the match and Power’s goal looked to have won it for them before Godden equalised, with the striker then blazing over a great chance to win it in the seventh minute of added time.

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson was frustrated Sunderland full-backs Luke O’Nien and Bryan Oviedo escaped red cards – the former for what Ferguson termed a “horrendous” challenge on Ivan Toney and the latter, who had already been booked, when Posh’s Marcus Maddison was adjudged to have dived.

He was also adamant Sunderland encroached on a Posh free-kick which was blocked shortly before Power’s goal.

He added: “The big decisions in the game are so important and we did not get one of them. The one on Marcus is a foul and the tackle on Ivan Toney is horrendous.

“But I really enjoyed the game – it was a great atmosphere with both teams going hell for leather to try and get the points.

“To a man we had a right go and have gone toe-to-toe with them.

“I thought Matty was going to win it for us and I was ready to go berserk!”