Mike Dodds has confirmed that Sunderland are likely to be without Jack Clarke for the visit of Swansea City this weekend with the winger set to miss out with a slight ankle injury.

Dodds begins life as Sunderland’s interim head coach for a second time this season after taking charge of three games in December following Tony Mowbray’s departure having also had a spell in the dugout prior to Alex Neil’s appointment in 2022. It comes after Sunderland and head coach Michael Beale parted ways with one another earlier this week after just 12 games in charge for the former Rangers boss.

Beale took 14 points from a possible 33 available to him during his time with the club, as well as suffering an FA Cup third round exit at the hands of rivals Newcastle United, before the club made the decision to move on for a second time this season with Dodds now tasked with overseeing the remaining 13 games of the season.

But those 13 games will be made all the more difficult for Dodds from the offset with news he is set to be without talisman Clarke for the visit of Swansea.

Clarke has produced a stunning campaign so far at the Stadium of Light with 15 goals and four assists – form which led to the 23-year-old being the subject of significant interest during the January transfer window.

Clarke has been an ever-present for Sunderland this season, starting all 33 Championship games as well as that FA Cup tie with Newcastle – the only fixture Clarke has not started this season was the League Cup tie with Crewe Alexandra in August. The winger’s durability has been a key asset having made 57 consecutive Championship starts for Sunderland dating back to December 2022.

But that run is set to come to an end for both Clarke and Sunderland after Dodds relayed news of a setback for Clarke following a slight ankle injury picked up in the defeat at Birmingham City – although Dodds has suggested the injury is not a serious one.

“The Jack Clarke one is an interesting one. I’m not a big social media person, I’m only getting things second and third hand but the information I’ve been getting is that it’s a lot worse than what it is,” said Dodds.

“Jack rolled his ankle against Birmingham. He played 90 minutes and our physio department were super-relaxed around Jack. The plan was for him to have a couple of days off and train Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but that hasn’t happened so I think the game tomorrow is probably going to be a game too early for him and then we’ll reassess where we are on Monday.

“But the whole ‘out for a month’ – that’s probably being a little bit more sensationalised than what it is.”

He continued: “Jack Clarke is one of the best wingers in the league. If you take Jack Clarke out of any of the teams in the league he’s a miss. On the flipside, I’m also a little bit excited around tweaking and changing one or two things.

“The last time I showed that I will make decisions that I feel is best for the group and when you have someone like Jack who has been taken out of the team, you have to try and come up with solutions to that. So the next few games will be really interesting in terms of team selections.”

Sunderland are also without Dan Ballard after the defender picked up his tenth yellow card of the season in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Birmingham but January recruit Leo Hjelde is fit to feature after picking up a knock in that defeat with Dodds confirming the Norwegian is ‘fine.’

It leaves Dodds with a number of selection dilemmas against a Swansea side who themselves have been in a managerial transition recently following Michael Duff’s exit.

Dodds may turn to 20-year-old winger Romaine Mundle who made his first start for Sunderland since his move from Standard Liege at St. Andrew’s a week ago to replace Clarke, as Sunderland's interim boss looks to get the season back on track and close the seven-point gap to the Championship’s play-off spots.