JACK ROSS has urged the Sunderland fans criticising midfielder Max Power to give him a chance to prove he doesn’t deserve to be tarred with a poor disciplinary brush after his third red card since his move to Wearside.

The Black Cats boss has outlined an intention to appeal against his third dismissal in his last four league starts, believing his tackle on Walsall’s Liam Kinsella in the 23rd minute on Saturday didn’t warrant the punishment from referee Craig Hicks.

As things stand Power is facing a five-match ban, following on from the two suspensions already that have prevented him from missing a combined seven games.

Throw in the three Checktrade Trophy fixtures that he is also ruled out of because of a strange FA rule, it means the Wigan loanee will have missed 15 games by the time he returns to action. He has only made 13 appearances since his summer switch.

Power’s latest red card followed on from his sending-offs against Oxford and Bradford earlier in the season and his latest one drew plenty criticism from many of the club’s supporters.

But Ross said: “Any criticism of him is entirely unfair. In no way should he be criticised for that on Saturday because it was the wrong decision.

“I have watched it and he doesn’t even give the official a decision to make. I am fairly straight, I have been straight in there with the players. I communicate with the media as I do with them.

“If I thought he had done something here on the back of what has gone before then he’d deserve criticism but absolutely none should come his way.

“We have spoken about his previous ones, I am loathe to go over old ground with those because I believe this should be in isolation. The only thing is they will be related, but I think it is such a strange decision.

“I will say what I think. Usually I will be measured in that. I would have no reason to think anyone should be critical of him, his team-mates would be in there and if they thought he deserved it then they would have every right to be critical, my staff would have and the fans would have. But you can’t even look at it. It didn’t deserve to be a red card.”

What makes Power’s red cards even stranger is that he has never had one in his career before this season. He is now 25 and is well known for his work-rate and desire, but never for going over the top.

Ross said: “Max is apologetic too, but it is ridiculous that he is apologetic because he doesn’t even give the referee a decision to make. It’s nothing.  “He is concerned because he knows the ramifications if it doesn’t get overturned. That has a huge bearing on our season. Let’s take this one in isolation, it should have no bearing on his other red cards. This was the wrong decision.

“The second one against Bradford I had no complaints. The first we appealed which says it all. Against Oxford when I watched it back I didn’t think it was when I went home, however this is one that for me was very clearly not.  “This is one that you can tell how I feel by how I have spoken about it. This is one I feel really strongly, it’s unjust. It will be utterly ridiculous if he is suspended , we will see how the week unfolds in that respect.”

Sunderland will lodge their appeal straightaway in the hope it is overturned in time for him to face Barnsley at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night. Ross even had support for it being overturned by Walsall boss Dean Keates.

“Dean didn’t think it was a red card either,” said Ross, whose side return to the Bescot Stadium on Saturday in the FA Cup. “Dean will feel aggrieved by an offside decision in the first half. He disagreed with that decision.  “The thing about Dean, he has played the game a long time, and your gut usually tells you if it is a red or not. I don’t know what the general feeling around the ground is but I was very surprised.”

Ross was not impressed by the official’s performance overall but was delighted with the way Sunderland once again showed the character and spirit running through the squad to claim an unlikely result.

After Power’s sending off had ruined a bright opening from Sunderland at the Bescot, Walsall went into a two-goal lead inside the first six minutes of the second half.

Josh Gordon hit the first when he converted a cross from Nicky Devlin seconds after the restart and then Josh Ginnelly curled in a brilliant soon after to give ten-man Sunderland a mountain to climb.

But the men from Wearside responded perfectly. Aiden McGeady pulled one back just after the hour and Lynden Gooch’s fine turn and finish levelled matters to extend Sunderland’s unbeaten run to 13 matches – and stay second in the Championship.

Ross said: “The opening period of the second half was when we were disappointed. The reaction to going two down was outstanding. There’s not many teams who will play that way with ten men and go two down.  “They carried that and I thought they were outstanding, brilliant. The chances they created with ten men was brilliant. Even if Lynden doesn’t score that last minute goal then I would have said the same thing because there were so many good things about the reaction.

“The sending-off galvanised them a little, we were playing then with a man short, we played for 75 minutes with ten men. That has a physical impact. We had to change shape. There were a number of factors.  The only time I could be critical was for five minutes after half-time.”

Ross reserved special praise for Gooch. The American has become a key player under him this season and he even adapted to a change of role to impress against the Saddlers.

Gooch started as a No 10 behind striker Josh Maja; he dropped to become more a central midfielder after the red card before then finishing the game out wide.

He supplied the pass for McGeady’s goal and appeared in the box to deliver the sort of finish any forward would be proud of to seal the point.

Ross said: “This week was interesting, we wanted to find a solution after last week. Chris Maguire was only really fit enough for the bench. Lynden has got a lot to offer in that position. I think he is effective in that area. Wherever he has played this season he has been great. 

“I had a conversation with (analyst) Mark Boddy, who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game. He gave me answers I needed when I was thinking about it. 

“I then spoke to Lynden about the situation and we did work with him on it. He did well and it’s nice to have that option with him where he can play in different areas.”