Mike Dodds' every word ahead of Sunderland vs Leeds United

Any update on injured players and who's available, Trai Hume looked like he was struggling after Bristol City?

Trai picked up a little bit of a knock but he got through it. There's one or two that we're having to manage a little bit, so we'll see how they react. There's obviously still another 24 hours until the game and 24 hours can be a lifesaver for someone like myself when you're relying on certain players. We'll see how they react in the morning but there were one or two that left the game slightly worse for wear.

READ MORE: Sunderland's OBV vs Bristol City highlights creative talents

Rusyn, what's the situation with him, is he close?

No, he's not close. He was out on the grass running today but he's not with the group so he's still going to be a couple of weeks. He'll be touch and go whether he's back for the Sheffield Wednesday game.

I'm not sure what ran through your mind when you saw Leeds had lost to Coventry, but probably not the result you had anticipated nor one you wanted?

The Championship is a brutal and relentless league. There's so many results every week, you could check the results on a Saturday and there will be one or two results which will be an eyebrow raiser. That being said, I think Coventry are a really good team so the result doesn't surprise me completely. I do think Leeds are one of, if not the best team in the league and I said that when we played them previously, earlier in the season. 

You can read into they lost the last game, they won the last game, the reality is they're a really good team. Regardless of their previous results, whether they've lost five on the bounce or won five on the bounce, the reality is, the players they put on the pitch are Premier League quality. Regardless, of the previous game, we know, all of us, whoever starts is going to have to be right at it. They're going to have to perform 100 per cent to give us a successful result.

Elland Road is a fortress for Leeds, 16 wins and four draws, that is very strong form?

Yeah and I'm sure the atmosphere helps that. I go back to my previous point, they've got Premier League quality. They're the type of figures you would expect when you look at their squad, look at their players, their bench and players they don't have available. They're the figures you would expect and I mean that respectfully to Leeds United. Look, it's going to be a tough game and you're probably bored of me saying it in every press conference, there's no easy games in this league.

We're going to have to go there and be 100 per cent. Every player is going to have to perform to the best of their ability, if we do that, we've got quality that can hurt them. They'll be aware of that from the previous fixture. We're looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it. I don't know whether it's an arrogance or an ego thing, these are the types of games that I relish. Stepping out in front of 30,000 people at Elland Road, there's not many people that can say that. My mindset is to go and try and win the game regardless of their record there.

Is it a free hit? You don't have the pressure that Leeds have on their shoulders at the moment?

Not really. I can understand why that might be the narrative. From my perspective as a young coach, I have everything to lose in terms of my reputation. We have young players that want to propel this football club to where we feel it needs to be. It's an opportunity to see where we're at, individually and collectively. I don't see it as a free hit whatsoever. These are the types of games that we should be wanting to play in every single week. This is the level we want to get to and this is the level we want to perform at every single week. I don't see it as a free hit no.

When you look back at that Leeds game at the Stadium of Light, is that your benchmark, is that win the one you're most proudest of?

Maybe, because the results are positive results, the performance gets amplified. If you look at the second half against Leicester, we had the second youngest team in EFL history and Leicester didn't have a shot on goal in the second half. I'm proud of pockets of whether it's my first time in charge, or second time in charge, I'm proud of a lot of pockets of things that have happened. There's some things when the dust settles I'll need to reflect on and next time, either here or somewhere else, that I improve on certain things. I think from my first spell to my second spell, that I am a very reflective person and I'm very critical of myself. To a degree yeah. I've watched that game back in the last few weeks, knowing this game was coming up and I thought there was some stuff we did really well in the game, I thought there was some stuff I wasn't happy with. That's the type of person that I am. I'm very critical of myself. I think there's pockets of a lot of the games that I quite like. That isn't one that I jump to and go yeah that was my proudest moment.

Sunderland interim head coach Mike Dodds (Image: Ian Horrocks)

With the Leeds game, they're a Premier League club recently, they could be next season, is it an opportunity to show you can compete with a team of this standard?

Yeah, definitely. Like I said, I don't know if it's an arrogance or an ego thing, I'm quite a humble guy. These are the types of games where I fancy ourselves, where I back ourselves. I think they're a Premier League team in waiting. Having watched a lot of their games in preparation for this, I like a lot about their team and I think they've got a lot of quality, whoever they pick. The reality is they could make three or four changes and still have a lot of Premier League quality. I think they're a Premier League team in waiting. These types of games I relish and the players are relishing it. I don't think it's a game where it's a free hit. I think it's a real opportunity for all of us to showcase where we're at and how much more we need to get to where we need to be.

Some on the outside will argue Sunderland's season is done, does it feel like that for you and the players?

Not for me. Not at all. I've got five games. Not for me personally and for the players, we're demanding every day, improvements in certain areas. We're tweaking one or two things. They've got to execute those things. If they don't execute those things, internally there'll be criticism of them. Internally, we've got a long term ambition to be in the Premier League and if we decide the last five games are what they are, we're not going to get to where we want to get to. 

From my perspective, that's definitely not the case. Myself and all the staff have to double down on the standards and the beliefs in the way we work, because when you start having the mindset that the last five games are a free hit, we don't deserve to achieve what we want to achieve. 

You hear the cliché of teams being on the beach, not going up, not going down, how do you stop that from developing that mindset or is it not an issue here?

I want to say that's not an issue here, but I think I've always been very honest when I've been in this position and I think there was an element of that for the Blackburn game if I'm honest. I've never pointed the finger at the group and that was the first time I've pointed the finger. We got a reaction which we all deserved. Whether it be the people who support the club, the fans, the backroom staff that work here, I think everyone deserved a reaction from the game last Monday. I do think, maybe in that game, there could have been an element of that when you look at the result, but not in the result, the performance. That was maybe a bit of a wake up call for me as the head coach, to go right, if one or two think that, then unfortunately they're going to come up against a head coach that won't accept that. If any of the players - they've been told this under no uncertain terms - if they want to start looking at holidays or get their flip-flops out, they won't play for me and they won't play for the football club. This is an unbelievable football club and they should be privileged to wear the Sunderland shirt.

Just looking at last weekend, how important was it to get a result of some kind?

It was just important to perform and play well. I think, having watched it back, we were even better than I thought after the game. The chances we created were even better than what I thought they were at the side of the pitch. I thought the performance was a really positive performance. I think in this industry, you're only as good as your last result and you're only as good as your last performance. People will only remember your last action so I think coming away from the game - I'm the same, that's something in my position that head coaches need to be reflective around - I think I came away from the game, because the second half from both teams went a little bit flat, I probably didn't give the players as much credit as what they deserved.

Recommended reading:

• Bristol City draw a sign of how low the bar is set

• Mike Dodds' Patrick Roberts warning and Jack Clarke praise

Prior to that, obviously the performance on the Monday against Blackburn was so poor, you forget how good the performance was on Friday. That's not an excuse, that's the industry I work in. It was important, as I've always done, I've never sat here and tried to spin positives. I've never tried to spin a narrative at any point, I've always been honest and open. There are positives in three out of the last four games we've had three clean sheets. That being said, the Monday performance was that bad, it doesn't really matter. I'm expecting five really strong performances and like I've said in another question, if any of the players start wanting to look at holiday, they're going to come up against a not particularly nice coach to play for. We've got to give everything for the last five games because the supporters of this football club deserve nothing less than that.

Have you spoken with Abdoullah Ba after the weekend?

My personal opinion, Abdoullah isn't going to like the decision but I think it's a huge positive in terms of, we have competition for places, what competition in that area does is it creates more desire. Competition is healthy and good. The decision was the decision. I really like Abdoullah. Prior to that game, I think I'd taken 10 games and started him in seven. It wasn't a personal thing, he wasn't in the game previously, he was on the bench.

I wanted to make sure Aji (Alese) was in the squad and trying to get him on the pitch was always in my head prior to the game. I just felt one of the attacking players had to miss out. Pat (Roberts) was back as well, I knew I was going to keep Riggy (Chris Rigg) on for as long as possible. I didn't see an opportunity when I was going to get him on. That was nothing personal, he has a strong chance of being in the squad on Tuesday. When you pick the team, you try and predict your subs and before the game I didn't see him being one of those subs.