IT is a sign of how much Sunderland need promotion this season that after three unbeaten matches Jack Ross is already heading into a League One match knowing his team could do with winning.

Only Stewart Donald, the Black Cats’ owner, will truly know how much the manager needs to deliver three points on Saturday, but Ross by his own admission is keen to claim a first league win of the campaign anyway.

Sunderland are up against a tough opponent, and a familiar one in Portsmouth, having battled them all the way to the play-offs last season where Sunderland eventually lost the final to Charlton at Wembley.

So, after two draws with Oxford United and Ipswich Town, a Sunderland win is by no means a given against a Pompey team with huge hopes of finishing in the top two themselves – and having already got their first league victory out of the way.

Winning at Accrington on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup has certainly raised spirits among the Sunderland supporters and players, and the target is to follow that up by securing a much-needed and confidence-boosting three points this weekend.

Ross knows there has been criticism hurled his way from the stands, with some of decisions in terms of selection and formations questioned, but he will stay strong to his principles which he is sure will get Sunderland heading where he wants.

“I am in a job that loads of people feel they can do better than me, some might be right, who am I to say they are not,” said Ross. “The truth is there aren’t many who will walk in my shoes as a football manager. It’s different when you are in those shoes.

“I have always had a certain amount of self-belief in what I have done but I have also been realistic, frank and on reflection I always look at what I can do better. It is about winning games. That is what drives us on. If you were someone who got caught up in the external noise you wouldn’t be a football manager.

“You have to train yourself to be focused, it is difficult to ignore external noise when communication is so easily accessible these days. You have to develop an awareness, a thick-skin, maybe no skin!”

One of the biggest criticisms Ross has had to endure is centred on his tactics, having spent the pre-season largely playing with three centre-backs. That was scrapped for the second half at Ipswich, which ended up leading to a point rather than defeat, and at Accrington on Tuesday, where they won.

Ross said: “Even from when I played there is a lot more fluidity on the pitch in terms of what players do. Even in the areas they find themselves in, players move around more than traditionally they might have.

“The truth is all the formations merge in to one. I read somewhere we scored an equaliser against Oxford playing a back four … no we didn’t, I know for a fact we didn’t. That is an observation and I wouldn’t criticise that. We changed system at Ipswich, so did they. That is in one game. Rightly or wrongly. There will be an opinion out there saying we were better when we were more rigid, but that is just the modern game. Things change.”

Ross, who hopes to have Denver Hume and Dylan McGeouch available again after they returned to training on Thursday, will not be losing too much sleep over others’ opinions on formations.

He said: “It’s not that important. But the truth is you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. There was a clamour to play a certain way last year, there will be a clamour to play a certain way this year … the appetite for change is non-stop.”