JACK ROSS admits he is always seeking perfection at Sunderland – and Saturday’s draw at Scunthorpe was far from it.

The Black Cats boss was speaking at his early morning press conference ahead of tomorrow night’s Checkatrade Trophy game with Manchester City Under-21s at the Stadium of Light.

And his frustrations from the weekend’s result lingered.

Ross wasn’t just frustrated by conceding a late leveller at Glanford Park, he was more concerned with the manner of the overall performance.

“As I said post-match, we didn’t play well on Saturday,’’ he reflected at the Academy of Light. “There can be quite extreme reactions if we don’t win games and I feel I’ve been fairly consistent in my reaction if we haven’t won or performed well.

“Talk the last three in isolation there was times when we played well and went toe to toe with good teams in this league.

“However, Saturday we didn’t play well and I don’t think we deserved an awful lot more.

“There is a disappointment at the club if we don’t win games, but this was probably the sorest one because of the performance.’’

Ross added: “I think we have to be careful we don’t get drawn into over-reaction, if that’s the right word, but there is a tendency for an over-reaction here if things aren’t going well.

“I always try to be realistic and I was on Saturday. I’m always seeking perfection here and at the moment we aren’t at that so my frustration will always remain. Consistent perfection is what I’m after so my frustration continues.

“Saturday was the sorest because it was the furthest away from the performance which I feel should reflect in what we have in the squad and how I prepare the team.

“Although form has been sticky in terms of picking up victories that, in isolation, was the one falling short in terms of performance.’’