Sunderland boss Jack Ross has conceded the difficulty he faced in assembling his squad when he took over in summer, in spite of the owners thinking that there would be sort of a clean slate.
Ross was appointed the man in charge in summer as the Black Cats prepared for life in League One after going through back-to-back relegations over the course of the last two seasons.
The 42-year-old brought in as many as eight players over the course of the summer and sold as many as eleven, keeping in mind the demands of English third tier football.
The manager insists that he was surprised after discovering the position of the club from the owners and was forced to overcome various obstacles to take Sunderland to where they are today.
“There is lots that probably surprised me after speaking to Stewart and the owners about the club’s position", Ross was quoted as saying by Chronicle Live.
“I think there was probably more over the summer period we had to deal with than we probably would have liked.
“In that, I mean in an ideal world the owners probably believed there would be some sort of clean slate, but that was maybe an idealistic way of thinking.
"We still had a number of obstacles to get over to even be able to put a squad in place."
Ross' team have enjoyed a bright start to the League One campaign and are placed fourth in the table with 15 points from eight league games.
They face Rochdale at the Stadium of Light this weekend.
