Watson lauds 'absolute leader' Dodds as South Shields prepare for Marine

South Shields manager Ian Watson has described summer signing Dan Dodds as ‘an absolute leader’ as the former Hartlepool United man continues to play an integral role in the Mariners push for the National League North title.

Dodds was one of several additions to the squad Watson inherited from predecessor Elliott Dickman following his summer appointment at the 1st Cloud Arena and he has gone on to make a sizeable impact during what has already been a remarkable first season in management for the former Gateshead and MK Dons assistant manager.

Dodds gave another clear indication of why Watson was so determined to secure his signature following his departure from Pools when he set up on-loan Middlesbrough youngster Sonny Finch in Tuesday’s narrow win against Southport that ensured South Shields moved five points clear at the top of the National League North table.

Reflecting on what he described as ‘another big moment’ for Dodds and his side as a whole, Watson praised the former Pools man for his positive attitude and ability to impact the game in such an effective way.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s visit to Marine, Watson told The Gazette: “Doddsy is an amazing football player but he’s also an amazing person. What an unbelievable guy he is and he is someone we are lucky to have at the football club. In terms of when he’s on the pitch, you know what you’re going to get from him, he’s going to run more than anyone else, you know he’s going to work hard, you know he is going to help everyone else. He’s an absolute leader and it doesn’t surprise me when he has these big moments. It’s the same concept as I am saying about the team - because he’s so positive, because he’s so front-footed and his body language is so good and he wants to impact the game, he gets big moments and makes the most of them.”

Moments

With a nerve-shredding run-in lying in wait for Watson and his players, the Mariners boss has called for calm from everyone connected with the club and insisted they must ‘stay flat-lined’ and let their promotion rivals be impacted by their emotions over the coming weeks and months.

He said: “They were really good when they came to our place. Obviously it’s an artificial pitch so that changes it a little bit because the ball doesn’t run how it runs on grass so we will have to adapt a little bit. We know it’s going to be a really hard game but every game is going to be really hard. This run-in is going to be up and down, up and down and there will be moments that will hurt and moments like that against Southport when we can celebrate - but what is important is that we stay flat-lined and let others go through the emotions.”

The Mariners could hand a debut to midfielder Ethan Robson after he joined on loan from Carlisle United.

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