After a 'boring' performance in the defeat to Millwall, Mike Dodds will be hoping his Sunderland players have heeded his warning heading into another dead rubber this weekend.
The Black Cats face a Watford side that has recent appointed former midfielder Tom Cleverley as their new head coach, after impressing during an interim spell in charge of the club,
Watford have drawn five of their last six games in the second tier, with their last home win in the league arriving way back in November in a 3-2 win over Norwich City.
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The Hornets themselves secured their Championship status for another season last weekend, but will equally wanting to impress their new head coach ahead of the summer.
Sunderland have a number of players playing for their future, and three points at Vicarage Road would be a huge boost ahead of next season.
Matty Hewitt
The obvious starting point is shape. Mike Dodds has stuck with variations of a back five, or a 3-4-3 in possession, with varying degrees of success.
Last weekend against Millwall was one of those days where it didn't go to plan.
Which is why I think Dodds may well revert to a 4-2-3-1, given personnel returning from injury.
To me, a back four of Trai Hume, Dan Ballard, Luke O'Nien and Aji Alese is the strongest defence you can field at the moment, allowing for extra bodies further up the pitch. Given Sunderland have struggled creating opportunities, I think it's time they played with an extra man higher up.
As I said in a piece earlier this week, I think it's time Callum Styles is given an opportunity in the heart of midfield in Dan Neil's absence. After all, he'll be playing there for Hungary in the European Championship's this summer.
Adil Aouchiche gives Sunderland a bit more of a connection between their midfield and forward line and I'd like to see him come back into the side to play alongside Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts in the middle of an attacking three.
Jobe Bellingham should lead the line.
Matty Hewitt's predicted Sunderland XI to face Watford. (Image: We Are Sunderland.)
Matty's predicted XI: Patterson; Hume, Ballard, O'Nien, Alese; Styles, Ekwah, Aouchiche; Clarke, Jobe, Roberts.
Joe Ramage
Mike Dodds made no bones about his disappointment in Sunderland's performance against Millwall having labelled it as 'boring' and that he did not enjoy watching his team. There aren't many times, if any, that has been thrown at this squad of players since their return to the Championship but is indicative of the way things have gone in recent months.
With that in mind, it's easy to suggest Dodds will be looking for much better from Sunderland's trip to Vicarage Road with the likely option being to add another attacking player into the mix by reverting to a back four.
Sunderland have enjoyed great success in their previous two away games at Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion with a structured use of wing-backs but after a real lack of invention against Millwall it would be no surprise to see Dodds looking to add a little bit more going forward. How he does that will be interesting.
Dan Neil's injury impacts central midfield significantly with Jobe Bellingham tasked with dropping back into that role last weekend. Given Bradley Dack's failure to impress on his return to the side, however, Jobe should move back into the centre-forward position which, again, leaves Pierre Ekwah's partner in midfield open for debate.
Having hinted at his desire to have a conversation over being considered for the role, Callum Styles may get his wish to move from left wing-back into the centre of midfield, particularly after Aji Alese's return to the starting line-up last week against Millwall. Alese can move over to left-back with Trai Hume likely to return at right-back which will allow Styles to move centrally.
After missing out last weekend following the birth of his son, Patrick Roberts should return to the squad and could return to the starting line-up with Abdoullah Ba struggling to force his way back into contention in recent weeks. Roberts' inclusion is based upon Chris Rigg being deployed in midfield alongside Ekwah and Styles with the licence to move forward into the No.10 position. Rigg finds himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet currently, based on his endeavours since being included after the international break, and with Dodds suggesting Rigg's future will likely see him move into the centre of midfield, this could be a rare opportunity for him to excel in that area of the field in Neil's absence.
Joe Ramage's predicted XI: Patterson, Hume, O'Nien, Ballard, Alese, Styles, Ekwah, Rigg, Roberts, Clarke, Jobe
Joe Ramage's predicted XI for Sunderland's trip to Watford (Image: Newsquest)
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