'It's massive...': Mike Dodds on his key Sunderland challenge and honest assessment of where team stand

Mike Dodds says there is no easy fix to Sunderland's issues in the absence of some key attacking players but believes the players remain upbeat and determined to turn around a poor run of form.

The Black Cats, still without Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke for the foreseeable future, have lost four games on the bounce and face two daunting fixtures against Leicester City and Southampton this week. Dodds says internally there remains a lot of belief and focus on the challenge ahead, but also said that he is well aware of the need to offer some respite after what has been a bruising start to 2024 for the club more broadly.

"When I say that it hasn’t really disrupted us internally, I’m not suggesting that the players are skipping down the corridors," Dodds said.

"But what I will say is that there’s a real focus and intensity from them that, I’ll be honest, has surprised me because I thought I would probably have to pick one or two off the floor a little bit. They genuinely seem really focused and clear in terms of what we’re trying to do.

"The situation at the moment is the situation. We lost arguably one of the best defenders in the league, we lost someone who is a huge part of our goal contribution [Jack Clarke], and that’s not going to be a fix after one game. We’re not going to fix that after one game, it’s something we’re going to have to keep working and working at. I also completely understand the fans’ perspective. You’ve had some pinch points over the last few months, where one thing leads after another and after another. The only thing we can do, internally, as players and within the dressing room, is win games of football.

"If we wins games of football, those other things that are outside my control become a lot less pressing," he added.

"They’re not going to go away, we’re fully aware of that, but we’ve got to do our bit to help the football club – myself and the players. We’ve got to do our bit, and that’s winning games of football. I’ve been in charge for two games now, and for the first 45 against Swansea, we got a few things wrong. Part of the blame for that is on the players, and I’ve spoken to them about that, but part of that is on me, and I’ve shouldered that. The last game, I didn’t feel there was much in the game between the two teams. I felt as though we completely nullified a team that is scoring a lot of goals at home and that is in a really good spot, third or fourth in the league for their home form. Did I want to have more of threat going the other way? Of course I did. But I came out of that game with some pockets of positive.

"From my perspective, it’s been two games and I’ve had to deal with the cards I’ve been deal," he added.

"I don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me, and I definitely won’t be making excuses, but when you lose two big players like that it’s massive, and we haven’t really discussed the impact of not having Patrick Roberts. I know people will talk about goals and assists around Pat, but from a psychological perspective, if you come up against a Pat and a Jack playing on each wing, then the opposition go, ‘Right, we’ve got to stop that one, but then if they switch the play, we have to stop that one’. There’s all those things we’re having to navigate through. We’re in a little bit of a moment in terms of results, and we’re fully aware of that. We’ve got to do our bit as players and staff to turn that, and the way we do that is by winning games of football."

Sunderland now sit nine points adrift of the top six ahead of Leicester's visit.