Former Sunderland star Michael Gray believes the Black Cats should have pushed harder for the second goal at Wembley.
The former Wearside legend watched on as his old side conceded a last-minute goal to lose the League One play-off final 2-1 to Charlton Athletic.
It was a cruel blow for the Sunderland faithful, but Gray, speaking on Sky Sports, feels they could have pushed harder to find the winner themselves.
"The second goal going in so late on is tough to take," he said. "It's so deflating for a bunch of players it's so disappointing. I feel for them and I've been in that situation.
"Charlton had more quality and showed that in the second half. It's about taking your chances and they did that when they needed to.
"Jack (Ross) had a difficult job to do but what I think he has done is bring some camaraderie back.
“He will believe that they shouldn’t have drawn too many games. Next season is a must and they have to gain promotion.
“I’m sure the players gave everything but they should have gone for the second goal.
“It looked as though they held back. They kept the ball nicely. Once they gave Charlton one chance to break forward, they played on the back foot.
“You have got to have that confidence to get the second goal.
“You have to give every ounce of effort that you have but there was just something missing at the end.
“If you have 30 seconds left in the game you have to switch on. You have to keep going until that final whilst but they switched off.
“Charlton won’t have believed their luck there. It was a bit of a lottery but it was two vs one on the back post in the last minute. It shouldn’t be like that.
Sunderland threw on Aiden McGeady and January signing Will Grigg in a bid to find the winner, and Gray expected to see more for the man they paid £3m to Wigan for earlier this year.
“Will Grigg came in for £3m and we all expected more goals from him," he added.
“It was a failure not to finish in the top two. I still think there was something more to give today."
