• Ross’s contract terminated after 17 months in charge• Decision ‘made with a heavy heart’, says Stewart DonaldSunderland’s desperation to escape League One has led to the dismissal of Jack Ross. The 43-year-old Scot had been on borrowed time at the Stadium of Light after failing to win promotion last spring and when the team suffered its second defeat of the season at Lincoln on Saturday the manager’s fate seemed all but sealed.
It was the 10th loss suffered by Ross in 75 games in charge and it left Sunderland sixth in the table, eight points behind the leader, Ipswich, but Stewart Donald, the club’s owner, expected more from a manager with the third tier’s largest budget.