Sunderland’s Jack Ross has always looked at the League One table in terms of points per game rather than positions, but Barnsley’s Jacob Brown insists his side are putting all the pressure on the chasing pack with points on the board.
The Tykes have stuttered slightly since their top-scorer Kieffer Moore was ruled out for the season but they can open an eight-point gap over the Black Cats while they and fourth-placed Portsmouth are busy preparing for the Football League Trophy final if they beat Coventry City on Saturday.
By then, Sunderland will have three games in hand to turn it around, meaning their fate is still in their own hands. But Brown believes points on the board are more significant.
Before Saturday’s televised game at Walsall, Barnsley had drawn four of their previous six matches 0-0, including a very wind-affected game at home to the Black Cats. They were on course for a fifth until Brown’s injury-time winner. It extended their unbeaten run to 19 league matches.
“That’s the way that we are as a team, we keep going until the end, we never give up,” he told his team’s official website. “Whether we’re behind or level, we’re going to be going for it until the final whistle.
“It’s a massive result, every game is big now.
“The pressure isn’t on us, it’s on those trying to catch us. If we keep on winning, it will take a lot for us to be caught.”
Only two teams get automatic promotion from League One, with the next four going into the play-offs. Leaders Luton Town are ten points ahead of Sunderland, having also played twice more.
Black Cats manager Ross has always viewed two points per game – 92 for the season – as being the target which will bring promotion. Sunderland are just a point behind that with 73 from 37 matches.
Last season, when second-placed Blackburn Rovers accumulated 96, was only the second time since 2012 that 92 points would not have earned promotion to the Championship.
Fourth-placed Sunderland sat out the last round of matches after they had four players selected for international duty.
They play eight games in April to catch up on the matches they have in hand. It is a demanding schedule that will test them but with comfortably the division’s deepest squad, they can have no cause for complaint.
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