DESPITE falling behind on numerous occasions this season, Sunderland have still only lost once and that sort of character highlights why Jack Ross’ side are right in the thick of a race for automatic promotion.

A strong spirit is exactly what Ross has wanted to instil in the squad since taking over in the summer, but developing a unity doesn’t often happen overnight.

That is why the former St Mirren boss and his recruitment team deserve credit for the work they did on the transfer front, when the Black Cats brought in 12 new players following relegation from the Championship.

That is a huge turnover in personnel, with just as many leaving, so for Sunderland to knit together in a short space of time is testament to the research that went into determining what their transfers targets were like.

“When you recruit, the easiest way to do that is if you know them,” said Ross. “That makes it dead easy because the risk involved comes down. That’s not always easy to do especially as the years go on, your contact with players becomes less because you have worked with less of them.

“You have to do as much due diligence as possible. That’s about taking an opinion from a variety of sources who you would trust from within the game, you would like to get to spend time with a player before you sign them, that would allow you to get a feel for what someone is like.

“It doesn’t work like that. You don’t get to interview a player before you sign him, so generally you have to make that decision and that is why you have to do as much homework as you can. You will get them wrong at times, there’s loads of examples of that, but you have to make sure you do as much as you can to cut down the risk of getting them wrong.”

Ross does think there has also been an element of luck too, ahead of a trip to Walsall when Sunderland could hit top spot in League One if they win. This game follows on from last weekend’s visit of Wycombe when Sunderland came from behind to earn a point.

He said: “There was probably a bit of fortune involved, the type of players I would recruit would have been similar if there was no identity to this club. The teams I have managed played in a certain way, that style probably suited this club.

“I didn’t have to come away from the type of players I usually like. We do spend a lot of time, although it can be condensed into a really short period, looking at the players we want.

“It is not just done on a whim because he is available let’s just go for it. There is a lot of work involved to try to cut down the chance because you are going to get some wrong.

“There’s not been one I have either inherited or brought in that I have really felt let down by in any way. They have all been responsive to what I have asked them to do.

“I always love getting to work with players on a daily basis because that is when you start to get an appreciation of how good they are. That is difficult to gauge from a distance.”

And when the window opens in January, Sunderland will be looking for the good work to continue – depending on how much Ross will be allowed to tinker as owner Stewart Donald strives to realign the club’s accounts.

Ross said: “What we try to do is have a robust plan in place, the work that goes on between one window closing and one opening doesn’t just ramp up suddenly.

“You have to be aware of what might fit from a budget point of view we have a team in place who does that. Losing players would mean us having to replace players in certain areas, so we just have to see.”

Josh Maja, rated at £6m by many and in demand from above, could be a a key figure in what Sunderland do.