AN angry Jack Ross refused to pull any punches after Sunderland’s hopes of automatic promotion disappeared at Fleetwood Town, with the Black Cats boss conceding his players “had not been good enough” to secure a top-two finish.

Sunderland looked like taking their pursuit of an automatic spot to the final game of the season when Lee Cattermole scored a first-half header, but second-half goals from Paddy Madden and Ashley Eastham mean they are now guaranteed to finish in the play-offs.

Luton Town and Barnsley have been promoted to the Championship, with Sunderland paying the price for winning just one of their last six matches.

Ross will have to lift his players for their play-off semi-final, not to mention Saturday’s dead rubber at Southend United, but first he wants to make sure they are aware of the deficiencies that have proved so damaging in the last few weeks.

“It’s a time to not sugar-coat anything,” said the Sunderland boss. “The players have to understand that we don’t want to spend another season in this league.

“That’s not being disrespectful to the league because we know how tough it’s been, and we can see that from where we’ll finish. But every single player who has come to Sunderland should have ambitions of playing in at least one higher league. I’m the same as a manager.

“The brutal reality is that they have to face up to the fact that they have to do certain things better, otherwise that won’t happen. I don’t want to have another season in League One, and they shouldn’t want to either.

“It’s a time for not shying away from that, and maybe now we’ll find out the ones that really want to stand up. It’s going to take big character now over these next three games after Saturday.”

Last night’s game followed a familiar pattern, with Sunderland dominating the early stages, only to see a host of good chances go begging. Will Grigg hit the crossbar, Max Power side-footed a tame effort straight at Fleetwood goalkeeper Alex Cairns and Cattermole fired over from the edge of the areas as the Black Cats failed to make their early dominance count, and after their attack malfunctioned before the break, Sunderland’s defence creaked damagingly after the interval.

No one tracked Madden as he rounded off a one-two by slotting home, and Eastham outjumped everyone in a crowded six-yard box to head home Fleetwood’s stoppage-time winner.

“I can’t keep telling the same story or being protective in the same way,” said Ross. “We can’t keep getting ahead in games and creating opportunities, but not be more ruthless and then capitulating in that manner.

“We should be good enough to win games from winning positions. I’m pretty angry in terms of how that comes about tonight because we did enough in parts of the game to win it, but we didn’t, and so we’ve ended up on the wrong end of a scoreline that also means we know where we’re going to be, missing out on the top two.

“I know people will say that had already been confirmed before tonight, but it hadn’t, we still had an opportunity. We started the game in a manner that showed a team who still thought they could do it, but ultimately we fell short because of the result.”

Sunderland have failed to win 23 of their 45 matches this season, and while they have consistently been fighting for a top-two spot, they have ultimately fallen short with one game to spare.

The challenge now is to come through the play-offs, with Saturday’s matches determining whether they face Portsmouth, Charlton Athletic, Doncaster Rovers or Peterborough United in their semi-final.

“We haven’t kept enough clean sheets, and we haven’t won enough games from winning positions, and that’s why we’ve fallen just short,” admitted Ross. “We’ve still got a good points total, but we’ve fallen short for those reasons. If we had done those things better, we would probably have been there by now.

“Over the last three games, we’ve collectively missed a lot of opportunities. If we had taken them, the scoreline in all three games would have been different, but we didn’t. When you don’t, you then have to keep a clean sheet, and we’ve not done that either. So it’s not a good recipe.

“The truth, and we can’t shy away from it, is that our results over the last five or six games have not been good enough for us to get in that top two. Ultimately, that’s what’s cost us.”