Mike Dodds believes he might need to try different lineup combinations and lineup configurations to make up for Jack Clarke’s absence, who is sidelined until April due to damage to his ankle ligament.
PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE
“I believe that every game needs to have a tagline that clearly defines Sunderland. We cannot, in my opinion, play any of the games passively. When I was asked about the Leeds game, the questioner seemed to be implying that we sat them off. However, if you watch the game again, you will see that we denied them space, but we were also very aggressive and slightly more forward when the ball found its way into certain areas of the pitch. As a result, we may have to give up some ground, but as a Sunderland team, we cannot and will not play a passive style of football.”
ARMOURY
“Regardless of Jack Clarke, we still have a consistent vision for Sunderland’s appearance, and it will be my job over the course of the next 12 games to figure out how to get there. Being completely honest, I am looking forward to the challenge of that; I believe the most experienced coach in the room would find it to be a real challenge as well. It would be difficult to remove someone of his caliber from your roster, even with the world’s most seasoned coach sitting in the chair, but that is something I am looking forward to over the coming months and something I will not stop at nothing to ensure that we approach every game believing we are going to win.”