JACK ROSS claims his Sunderland squad are judged by a different set of criteria to any other group of players in League One, but remains confident they “will not buckle” under the pressure of the promotion race.

Ross’ side return to action against Gillingham this evening looking to close the six-point gap that currently separates them from the automatic-promotion places and end a run of three successive draws.

The Black Cats remain the only club in England’s top four divisions to have scored in all their league matches this season, and have still only suffered two League One defeats, but there were murmurings of discontent as they failed to see off Accrington Stanley on Friday night, with audible booing at both the half-time and full-time whistles.

Ross accepts that is a reflection of where expectations have been set with Sunderland playing in the third tier for only the second time in their history, but while he can understand the clamour for sustained success, he feels there needs to be a degree of understanding about the squad he has been able to put together.

“I do believe that, sometimes, the credit the players deserve is masked by the perception of us playing in this league and what that should mean,” said the Sunderland boss. “On Friday evening, I think only two of the starters could point to having regularly played football at a level above League One in this country.

“I know George (Honeyman) had a relatively full season (in the Championship) last year, but that was only one season and with the exception of Aiden (McGeady) and Grant (Leadbitter), the rest of our players haven’t really had a lot of game time outside the league they’re playing in.

“That’s the reality of where we’re at as a team, and I think sometimes the character and resilience that we’re showing can be overlooked. It can maybe be forgotten about.”

That character and resilience was in evidence as Sunderland battled back from two goals down on Friday, and while Ross was disappointed to have fallen further behind Luton Town and Barnsley in the race for a top-two spot, he was still able to draw positives from his side’s last outing.

“The players have had to develop a resilience,” he said. “They’ve shown resilience on the pitch, but they’ve also had to develop a resilience so they can shield themselves a little bit from some of the external noise that goes around. That just happens playing for a big club.

“Every single club has dissent within its fan base because that’s just what happens. The bigger your fanbase, the more that percentage will mean there’s a bigger number of dissenting voices.

“You have to be strong enough to deal with that, and that’s been a learning curve for some of them. A lot of them are making progress in that respect. They’re not buckling in any way, and they’re desperate to bring success to the club.”

Friday’s game was transformed when Chris Maguire left the bench in the second half, and having laid on both of his sides goals four days ago, the forward is set to start in a ‘number ten’ role this evening.

The experiment of pairing Charlie Wyke with Will Grigg in a 4-4-2 formation did not work, and the former is likely to drop out of the side tonight with Maguire playing as the central attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 system.

Maguire found himself dropped to the bench when his form dipped over Christmas, but Ross expects the 30-year-old to be a key figure in the final 15 games of the season if he continues to reproduce the form he displayed against Accrington.

“What he showed was a return to the levels he had been at earlier in the season,” he said. “His form had dipped a little bit. We needed to see more of a response from him, but that was always communicated with him and he always had an understanding of where he was at.

“Equally, he always knew that opportunity would present itself, it was then how he took it. The majority of the second half he played on Friday, he absolutely did that.

“I said that to him after the game – when he produces that level, he’ll always play because he has quality. It’s just about making sure he does that time after time in games and time after time in training.”

Ross will have to decide whether to restore Tom Flanagan to the back four ahead of either Jack Baldwin or Jimmy Dunne, and must also choose between Lynden Gooch and Lewis Morgan on the right-hand side.

He also has a dilemma over what to do with Lee Cattermole, with the midfielder having found himself on the bench on Friday after completing his recovery from injury.

In Cattermole’s absence, Leadbitter has established himself at the base of Sunderland’s midfield, but while the pair share similar attributes, Ross insists it is not simply a case of having to select one above the other.

“Grant has strengthened our options in central midfield, but I don’t necessarily see him as the same as Lee,” he said. “If you look at the bulk of Lee’s career, he’s probably played the majority of it on the front foot. I think under Gus (Poyet) he played a slightly more withdrawn role, but that’s probably all.

“The thing about Lee is that he cares an awful lot. He respects how we treat him and how we’ve been with him from day one, and his determination to play a part in the club achieving success this season has remained consistent, irrespective of whether he’s been injured or available to play.

“I don’t think it’s a like-for-like with Lee and Grant – I think they bring different attributes. Potentially, you’re maybe looking at Dylan (McGeouch) and Grant being a bit more similar in terms of how deep they want to get possession of the ball. It’s just about finding the right balance for certain games.”

Sunderland (probable, 4-2-3-1): McLaughlin; O’Nien, Baldwin, Dunne, James; Leadbitter, Honeyman; Gooch, Maguire, McGeady; Grigg.