League One and Two news and rumours: Sunderland boss tells players to up their game | Barnsley head coach celebrates promotion in style | Kenny Jackett tells Portsmouth players to 'get over' promotion disappointment

Sunderland boss Jack Ross has told his players to up their game - and says now is not the time to ‘sugarcoat’ his feelings.

The Black Cats' participation in the playoffs was confirmed after falling to defeat in the 95th-minute at Fleetwood Town last night.

And Ross revealed the 'brutal reality' he told his players in the dressing room after surrendering a 1-0 advantage.

HERE's what Ross told the Sunderland Echo. Meanwhile, Sunderland's trip to Southend United this weekend has been selected for Sky Sports TV.

Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel celebrated his side's promotion to the Championship by hitting the town last night.

Without kicking a ball, the Tykes regained their second-tier status after both Portsmouth and Sunderland suffered heart-breaking defeats.

The delighted Stendel rallied his troops and took them on a night out - as captured by the club's official Twitter page.

Displaying a photo of the 45-year-old, the caption read: 'Gaffer just said... town".

Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett has told his players 'to get over it' after their automatic promotion were ended against Peterborough United.

The Blues boss said: “I’ve told the lads they can be disappointed tonight and tomorrow, although they have to get over it by the time we come in on Thursday morning.

“We’re not going up automatically and have to be ready for the play-offs – football’s the wrong industry to dwell on things.

“We’ve got 87 points and that’s no mean total, so we want to try to get up to 90. We want to secure third spot and have the second leg at Fratton Park.”

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson has declared 'it's squeaky bum time' for Posh and Doncaster Rovers.

Posh earned a shock 3-2 win at Portsmouth to take the race for the last playoff place to the final day.

Just one-point separates Ferguson's side and Rovers, who host Burton Albion and Coventry City, respectively.

You can read what Ferguson told the Peterborough Telegraph HERE.