JACK ROSS is ready to hit his first full week as Sunderland’s new manager by determining the future of the four players whose contracts are due to come to expire this summer.

While Ross already has targets in mind to bring in, with Hibernian’s John McGinn and St Mirren pair Kyle Magennis and Gavin Reilly believed to be in his thinking, he knows one of his first tasks will be address the futures of the quartet on the verge of leaving.

John O’Shea, who has already announced his retirement from international football, is one of four experienced players set to become free agents when their contracts run out at the end of next month.

Marc Wilson, Billy Jones and Kazenga LuaLua are the other three waiting to hear what Ross’ plans are, although the former St Mirren manager has already suggested he intends to build the club again.

Allowing those to leave would certainly reduce the size of the squad and significantly reduce the wage bill, as he looks to work to new rules under owner Stewart Donald will introduce when he brings in numerous new players to attack League One.

While relegation to the third tier for the first time in 30 years has hurt Wearside and Sunderland, Ross sees it as the perfect chance to take his next move – and he has explained why.

The 41-year-old said: “It’s alright having potential, but you have to find a way of exploiting it and maximising it, and that’s part of the reason why I’m so excited to take the job.

“Over the past year and a half I’ve had opportunities to move to other clubs, but this one was so fantastically timed for me because of the opportunity to rebuild and regain that momentum.

“I back myself to do it, and I’m excited for the challenge. I loved the job I was doing and I was very happy in it because we’d had good success and we were looking forward to the challenge of next season, but when Sunderland are mentioned - even before you know any details – you’re attracted to the potential and the size of the club.

“But the timing of it, with Stewart’s new ownership and the way he’s described his plans for the club, as well as his eagerness for me to be involved in all of that, was appealing for me and they are all huge factors.

“I feel I’ve always been fairly pragmatic about the choices I’ve made career-wise, and for me this a really good fit. Time will be the proof in that, but I’m very confident.”

Ross was still on holiday when it was confirmed he has succeeded Chris Coleman at the Stadium of Light on Friday. He is expected to be paraded in front of the media at some stage this week.

Sunderland’s new owner Donald is prepared to back him on the transfer front knowing a major overhaul of the squad lie ahead to make the team a promotion contender after two years of relegation.

Donald’s willingness to invest will only be relative to the division, so it is not expected that there will be a massive kitty at his disposal even if they will still be stronger than the rest of League One.

That is why Sunderland are being told to pay around £3m for the highly-rated Hibernian midfielder McGinn. The 23-year-old, who was at St Mirren before Ross’ time there, is a Scotland international and was on Sunderland’s radar under David Moyes.

The two St Mirren players being linked were key members of this season’s Scottish Championship winning team for the Buddies.

Magennis, 19, was a key mover in Ross’ midfield while 25-year-old Reilly, a former Hearts and Queen of the South player, scored 11 times for St Mirren and the claims of Sunderland’s interest have emerged from Scotland over the weekend.