Mike Dodds admits he needs to find the balance between getting results now and managing the development of Sunderland's young strike force.

It's been the talk of the Black Cats season so far and will only rumble on through the rest of the campaign and into the summer. Ahead of QPR, the four strikers signed this summer have managed just three league goals.

Mason Burstow has one, while Nazariy Rusyn has two. The latter of that duo has picked up a knock and will miss this weekend's clash with QPR.

READ MORE: Every word from Mike Dodds' press conference ahead of QPR

Luis Hemir Semedo has played twice for Dodds since he resumed interim charge of the club - starting against Norwich City and Leicester City but was dropped against Southampton. The Black Cats boss also has the option of starting Jobe Bellingham up front, as he did in his previous spell in charge.

Dodds admits playing the 18-year-old as a number nine is something he's considered heading into this weekend's game, knowing his side need a result before the international break.

"It's trying to strike the balance, isn't it," Dodds said in his pre-match press conference. "I completely agree in terms of we want to see whether our nines can develop into what we hope they can be and yet at the same time, we have got to win games of football.

"That's definitely the dilemma I have over the next couple of games in particular.
I think Hemir has done OK in the couple of games he's played, the Norwich game in particular we set up slightly differently because of how the opposition plays, and he was really selfless.

"I understand it wasn't a performance that jumped out from the outside but from my perspective, he was really selfless. He did a lot of things in the game for the team.

"Then against Leicester a few days later, the way we set up was a pressing game and he knows he needs to keep getting better at that, but we also didn't have a huge amount of chances and that's his game, really.

"So as the season goes on, when we hopefully have more fluidity with our possession, you'd start to see a better version of Hemir.

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"So with Hemir it's a question of which games we pick him for, and I think it's a huge compliment to Jobe that at 18, you can play him in so many different positions and you put him forward as a nine.

"Wherever the club has put them, he has shown he's going to give everything to try and execute what you ask of him. We've got options, there's Mason Burstow as well as Hemir and Jobe.

"I'm hoping Naz will be an option in the next couple of weeks as well, but of course we'll have to wait and see on that one."