GEORGE DOBSON has added his voice to the chorus of comments condemning Sunderland’s performance in their weekend defeat at Lincoln City, conceding the display at Sincil Bank was ‘unacceptable’.

Dobson was an unused substitute as Sunderland slumped to their second defeat of the season, but is set to return to the starting side tomorrow when the Black Cats kick off their campaign in the Leasing.com Trophy with a home game against Grimsby Town.

Saturday’s defeat has piled more pressure on under-fire boss Jack Ross, and Dobson accepts it was an extremely poor showing.

“It wasn't good enough on Saturday in terms of the things the gaffer talked about, the basics and the fundamentals,” said Dobson. “When you're not playing you can only say so much because you weren't on the pitch to influence it, but the boys have said it wasn't good enough and those sort of performances can't be repeated.

“After a result and performance like that you have to just address it but you can't dwell on it too much because if you let the negativity creep in too much the whole place can become negative. You've got to think it is only one performance and we've got to take it into Tuesday.

“We've just got to find the consistency of putting in those performances like the boys did against Sheff U and Milton Keynes - four, five, six in a row instead of two good, one not so good.”

Ross will make a host of changes tomorrow, with a number of Sunderland’s younger players expected to get a run-out.

Last season’s run to the final of the Checkatrade Trophy was something of a double-edged sword, setting up a memorable trip to Wembley but also contributing to a fixture pile-up that ultimately helped scupper the club’s hopes of securing automatic promotion.

Nevertheless, Dobson is looking forward to tomorrow’s game, which he regards as an opportunity for a number of Sunderland’s fringe performers to stake a claim for a more regular place in the side.

“The important thing for us is the league, but especially for players like me having not played the last couple, it's a chance for me to stake my claim to get back in and prove to the gaffer that I should be in the team,” he said.

“For the whole team, it’s a chance to put a positive performance in place going into the international break so that when the league is back up and running, we can mount a good run together.”