JACK ROSS claims last night’s Carabao Cup upset at Burnley proves his Sunderland squad has been strengthened by this summer’s transfer activity.

The Black Cats booked a third-round tie at Sheffield United as goals from Will Grigg, Tom Flanagan and George Dobson secured a 3-1 win at Turf Moor.

Ross made eight changes from the side that started last weekend’s league win over AFC Wimbledon, with the likes of Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin and Dobson producing accomplished displays as they were promoted to the starting side.

All three were signed in the summer, and while Bryan Oviedo and Lee Cattermole might have made high-profile exits from the Stadium of Light, Ross feels his summer restructuring has resulted in a much more balanced squad.

“People might question from a distance what we’ve done this summer, and look at the changes we’ve made, but I’ve spoken often enough about the equilibrium we’ve brought to the dressing room,” said Ross. “We’ve done that contractually, we’ve got that better balance, and in terms of the attributes of the squad, I think it’s better balanced too.

“We had a young side tonight, five under-23s, and there was a lot of athleticism, which helps us. We learned from last season. We felt we had a good season, but ultimately we fell short.

“So, we then had to identify what we maybe lacked in the squad, and hopefully we’ve addressed that. It’s still very early for us, but we think we have those attributes that give us a greater athleticism.

“We made a number of changes, but they were very much first-team players. The players should take pride, they’ve come to a Premier League side away from home and won. It makes my job harder in keeping them happy, but it’s a nice problem to have.”

Ross was especially pleased to see Grigg get off the mark for the season, with the striker driving into the roof of the net towards the end of the first half to claim his first goal since April.

The Northern Irishman missed a decent chance in last weekend’s win over AFC Wimbledon, but kept his composure last night as he made the most of Danny Drinkwater’s misdirected clearance.

“I’m delighted for him,” said Ross. “He’s desperate to be a success at this club, he’s been through a challenging period but he’s continued to train well and we’ve continued to have faith in him.

“His performances coming off the bench of late have been good and have helped us win matches. He’s missed a really good opportunity (on Saturday) and people may have doubted him, but I didn’t. He led the line well tonight and when he gets a chance, you’ll back him to score. I’m really pleased for him.”

Sunderland return to action on Saturday with a trip to Peterborough United, and Ross hopes to have a new left-back on board by the time his side travel to London Road.

With Sheffield Wednesday reluctant to sell Morgan Fox, the Black Cats have switched their attention to Kilmarnock’s Greg Taylor, however the Scottish Premier League club yesterday rejected their initial bid for the 21-year-old.

Sunderland are understood to have bid around £750,000 for Taylor, who was also the subject of an unsuccessful £500,000 offer from German side Nurnberg earlier this summer. Kilmarnock are reportedly holding out for at least £2m for the youngster.

“We will have one in before the end of the window,” said Ross. “It’s been challenging for loads of different reasons. 

“I wouldn’t want to comment on any particular player. There are a list of players we have identified – some are loans, some fees, some frees. We’ve tried, and we are juggling a few balls in the air at the moment. Hopefully, in the next couple of days, we’ll find a solution to that particular problem.”