Sunderland AFC news and transfers RECAP - Latest as Jack Ross looks for left-back cover

Live updates of the latest Sunderland news and gossip and reaction to the opening day draw with Oxford United

Bookmark
Share

Sean McCormickFootball Content Editor

Updated18:12, 5 AUG 2019

Video Loading

Hello and welcome to the Sunderland AFC live blog for Monday, August 5.

The Black Cats kicked off the new campaign on Saturday much like they had most of last - with a draw.

Jack Ross' side to come from behind to draw 1-1 with Oxford United at the Stadium of Light, courtesy of a Lynden Gooch penalty.

The game showed many of the side's flaws and with the transfer window still open, there is still opportunities to strengthen the squad. Ross is keen to find left-back cover for Denver Hume following the summer departures of Bryan Oviedo and Reece James.

Stick with us for live updates of the latest Sunderland AFC news and transfer gossip will be here throughout the day.

Latest Sunderland AFC news

Sunderland AFC will be looking to put last season's disappointment behind them and earn promotion back to the Championship in 2019-20, and we'll be following every kick right here on Chronicle Live.

Here are the latest news stories on the Black Cats:

13:17

Simon Mignolet

Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has joined Club Brugge from Liverpool, the Premier League club have announced.

The 31-year-old former Sunderland shot-stopper has signed a five-year contract with the Belgian club after completing a medical on Monday.

The move ends Mignolet’s six-year spell at Anfield.

12:15

Lawrence Shankland

Former Sunderland target Lawrence Shankland reveals why he joined Dundee United - and his verdict on his four-goal display last weekend.

“It just felt right. There was a lot to think about but I had to look at it as a place that I can come and develop to get better again than I did last year.
“I have had a good start today so hopefully I can kick on and do even better.
“I am not going to put myself under any pressure but it was a good start and if it keeps going and I get myself into positions, then I will back myself to score.”

12:07

The Oxford verdict

WATCH

Darren Bent recalls ‘anger’ after missing out on World Cup place in 2010

After a brilliant season at Sunderland...

09:38

Darren Bent discusses that controversial move to Aston Villa

“I was more than happy to play at the football club. I didn’t say I wanted to leave.”

09:27

Jack Ross focused on less, not more, goals at Sunderland

But he is doing all he can to fire up Will Grigg.

He told Chronicle Live:

“We feel we have attributes we didn’t have last season, you saw that with George (Dobson) and Jordan in terms of more pace and mobility, but the thing is clean sheets,” he stressed after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Oxford United. “There is a real myth about last season.
“On average you need to score 75 or 76 goals to get out of this league and we scored 80. So it frustrates me because the actual truth is we needed to keep more clean sheets, especially here (at the Stadium of Light).
“If we’d done that we would have turned draws into wins. We can’t keep having hard-luck stories and I can’t keep repeating the same message but there is an understanding in the squad that is what we need to do.
“It wasn’t scoring enough goals that cost us although we need to be more ruthless and make better decisions in the final third. Thirty-four crosses (the number Sunderland put in on Saturday) is a heck of a lot and they were not all poor. Some were poor, some were good and we need to work hard at that to make sure our creative or attacking players continue to get goals.
“The number of clean sheets on average we need to keep to get promotion is about 20. Last season we had 13 at home so that platform to win games, particularly here, is important for us.
“If you get cut open and someone scores a goal you can’t prevent, there is not much you can do about it but we were in possession of the ball (for Oxford’s goal) and it was avoidable which is the most frustrating thing.”

08:53

Ipswich tickets on sale

Grab them while you can...

08:21

Denver Hume glad to be back

07:48

Sunderland make life tough for themselves

But the officials also make it tough for the Black Cats, according to Jack Ross.

He told Chronicle Live:

“I attend a lot of meetings about officials and I do think they don’t do an awful lot about it (time-wasting) here and the game is allowed to become very stop-start.
“I sympathise with them to a degree, it is not easy to officiate in those circumstances, but there are times throughout the game when it is allowed to stop for a significant period more than it should.
“But we have to deal with it and accept that. It comes back to the fact we have to make sure we don’t fall behind.”

07:17

Jordan Willis: Lack of ruthlessness Sunderland's achilles heel

Sound familiar?

Addressing Saturday’s draw with Oxford, Willis - a summer signing from Coventry - said:

“We’ve got to be more ruthless at both ends of the pitch.
“I think we made it hard for ourselves going behind early on because from then on you’re chasing it.
“They were quite smart in what they did so we need to cut that out and be more ruthless. They frustrated us in the way they played and going a goal behind allowed them to do that.
“We’ve got to go again, work this week and put it right next Saturday (at Ipswich Town).
“We come here every game wanting to win so to not do that is frustrating, but at the same time we just have to build from that.
“We can’t let it get us down, there’s 45 games to go but we know we have to go out next week and get a win.”