- Bradley Dack substitution explained.
- Sunderland injury update and Corry Evans return.
- Struggling in the final third.
- Needing additions in the summer transfer window.
Every word from Mike Dodds after Sunderland's defeat to Millwall:
Firstly, the changes you made Dack and Hume, Dan Neil out for the rest of the season?
Dan Neil rolled his ankle yesterday so we're waiting for a scan. Obviously the feedback isn't positive in terms of he's going to be out for some time. He should be back for the start of pre-season but that's his season done. Trai was ill yesterday. We didn't want to change the preparation and drop him in on the day of the game. We made the decision to change that and Patrick Roberts had the birth of his son so he's down in London. We had three people missing in the squad through illness, injuries and personal circumstances.
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Went with Dack, he came off at half-time was that an injury?
No. It was more we wanted to get more runners in behind their back line. The thinking was to try and dominate the ball and the two centre-halves for them are players who want to play up against people. We felt having someone that didn't play up against them would allow us to have more control in the game and target wide areas. That didn't happen, so we just made one or two changes to try and get a little bit more threat in behind their back line. We didn't threaten their back line enough all afternoon if we're honest. We're trying to find solutions to that top area of the pitch.
It came down to scoring first, when you do, you do alright but when the opposition score first?
We spoke with the group that we knew the first goal was going to be really important. It's a really poor goal from our perspective and we changed the shape slightly. To try and have more attackers on the pitch and give us more impetus in the top area of the pitch. A bi-product of that, Millwall are always waiting for that one moment in transition. They've done it to so many teams since Neil has come back into his role when they're waiting for that one moment. In transitions or set pieces, they kind of stodge the game up, with so many bodies behind the ball and we knew that one moment was going to be crucial in the game. Frustratingly, I'm angry because we spoke about that all week. There's that one moment where we empty the middle of the pitch and they score on the transition. I'm frustrated because we did a lot of work on it this week. On the flip side we didn't work the goalie enough. We weren't clever enough, quick enough with our play in the top area of the pitch. They're the two main frustrations.
Corry Evans got 17 minutes, one positive to take from the game?
Yeah he's been training with us for a number of weeks now after a very minor setback. In ideal circumstances we wouldn't have to call upon him, but we changed the shape three times in the game to create, or try to create something. The top area of the pitch is an area where we're still trying to find solutions. We're still trying to find more ideas to be more of a threat. That was the decision to bring Corry on. He's been training with us and has been an important influence on the training ground and the dressing room. I'm happy for him it's been a long 13 or 14 months.
Mike, how long can the team carry on without a recognised, established goal scorer at the top?
Well I've got two more games so it's not going to be solved within the next two games. It's frustrating, it's really frustrating. I can't sit here and say it's not. I've tweaked and tinkered and tried to find solutions for that area of the pitch. It's obvious that it's an area of the pitch where this summer, the club need to do some work. That being said, I'm a coach and I take great pride in the work that I do and we'll keep working with the group. We'll keep working with what we've got to try and find those solutions. I think today more than ever, it was highlighted the top area of the pitch. It's vital for us because we look really solid up to an hour before we change the shape. We limited them to little or no chances and we dealt with transitions and set pieces - which are their big tools in their armoury. If we were a little bit better and fearless in the top end of the pitch, I think the result could have been slightly different but we weren't. I'm not sitting here saying we didn't deserve to win the game. At the same time, I don't think we deserved to lose the game. I think it was quite a boring performance from both teams if I'm being completely honest. They've got the three points and they'll be much happier than what we are.
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Fans can see there are good young players and that you inherited a difficult situation. The fans leaving today will find it tough to see positives and do you think it's a difficult place for the club to be?
Today is going to feel like that because not only have we lost the game and taking the result away, the performance wasn't good enough. I think prior, we've had some positivity leading up to the game. Before the kick off, in terms of having a positive result against West Bromwich Albion, at Leeds we had a really strong performance. I do think there's light at the end of the tunnel but today has highlighted the top end of the pitch is something we all need to work harder on. We need a little bit of support in terms of players in that area of the pitch. I do think there are some positives in terms of defensively we look organised. We look really good. The top end of the pitch, you don't need to be a football expert to see the top end of the pitch is something we need to be better with.
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