Roker Roundup: Niall Quinn gives his thoughts on job done by Sunderland owner Stewart Donald

Quinn praise for Donald and co.

Sunderland legend and former chairman Niall Quinn has been heaping praise on the job Stewart Donald and the new board have done to turn around the club after taking over last summer.

Speaking to the club’s main sponsor BETDAQ, Quinn says Donald has done very, very well since taking over from Ellis Short and believes he deserves praise for getting the connection between club and fans, as well as getting a very good manager in Jack Ross:

The club is in good nick.

It’s great to be back, I haven’t been back here for awhile and it’s my first time back - out on the pitch and looking around again - since the owners took over.

They’ve done very, very well. They’ve got people believing as one, that connection is really important.

They’ve got a good manager, a very good manager.

To get those two things right on day one was a big ‘well done’ to the owner and the new board and I wish them every success to get them back up into the Championship, then they can really propel.

You can listen to the full interview with Quinn in the Twitter link below:

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

McCann hoping to pile pressure on

After Sunderland lost a crazy game at home to Coventry City at the weekend, Doncaster Rovers boss Grant McCann is hoping to pile more pressure on the club in Friday evening’s clash at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland lost 5-4 to Coventry and McCann hopes the fans will get behind the home side in a ‘bad way’, while his plays soak up the atmosphere:

The expectations up there are huge, they’ll be expected to be in the top two, I’d have thought.

Definitely after the last two home games they’ve played – which they drew and lost – there will be expectations for them to beat us. Hopefully that plays into our hands.

The boys know what to expect up there [in terms of the size of the crowd].

It’ll show them this is what you can play in front of every week [by winning promotion to the Championship].

We’ll go up there and soak in the atmosphere. Hopefully the fans will be getting on top of the Sunderland players in a bad way.

Photo by George Wood/Getty Images

Robson rated

Dundee are bottom of the Scottish Premiership table at present, three points adrift of Jack Ross’ old club St Mirren.

The Dee took Sunderland youngster Ethan Robson on loan in January (making eight appearances since then) and, after making his debut against Hamilton at the beginning of February, the midfielder missed a couple of games through injury.

Unfortunately for Robson, his return to the side coincided with a run of seven consecutive defeats. He did score a goal against St Mirren but the Evening Telegraph have been rating Dundee’s January transfer signings and Robson only scores a five out of ten, with the newspaper pointing out his inconsistency.

Another of the loan contingent, the young midfielder is very highly regarded by permanent employers Sunderland. Covers a lot of ground in the middle of the park but his form has been up and down. 5/10.

There is a better score for Andrew Nelson who made a permanent move to Dens Park, as the striker scored an 8/10, despite struggling with injuries of late.

The other big success among the new arrivals, Nelson has struck four goals and looked a real find but he has been hampered by injuries. 8/10.

There was another former Sunderland man who joined Dundee in the January transfer window, with Martin Woods (of dodgy home video fame) scoring a 6 out of 10.

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