Mike Dodds has Dan Ballard back for Sunderland game with Leicester

Ballard was forced to sit out the first two matches of Dodds’ latest spell as interim Black Cats boss, having picked up his tenth booking of the season in the defeat at Birmingham City that turned out to be Michael Beale’s final game in charge.

In his absence, Sunderland have suffered back-to-back defeats to Swansea and Norwich, and while Jenson Seelt has tried to plug the gap alongside Luke O’Nien at the heart of the back four, the 24-year-old’s return should be a major boost to a Black Cats side that will attempt to end a four-game losing sequence by beating the league leaders.

READ MORE: Mike Dodds' every word ahead of Sunderland vs Leicester City

“If you look at the first game that I took (against Swansea), it was glaringly obvious straightaway how important Dan was to us,” admitted Dodds. “It’s been a big blow to lose him, but hopefully we’ve made the most of it.

“During international breaks, Dan goes away with his country, and he’s robust and plays a lot of games for us and trains every day. When he got the suspension, we gave him a few days to mentally refresh himself, and in the last seven to ten days, since he’s come back, he’s been bouncy and bubbly, and it’s almost like signing a new player.

“I’m really looking forward to him being back in the squad and the team, and what I think he has done in his absence is show just how important he is to us. I said the last time I took the team that I felt he was one of the best defenders in the league, and I think not having him in the team has just cemented that statement.”

Ballard’s return to the starting line-up is unlikely to be Dodds’ only change as he tries to keep his side’s flatlining play-off hopes alive against Leicester.

READ MORE:

• Mike Dodds confident tide has turned - and hasn't given up on play-offs with Sunderland

Abdoullah Ba is set to be back in the starting side after coming off the bench in the second half of Saturday’s defeat at Carrow Road, while Dodds must also decide whether or not to stick with Luis Hemir or recall either Nazariy Rusyn or Mason Burstow to replace the Portuguese youngster.

“In this game and the next game (against Southampton), we'll have to utilise the squad,” said Dodds. “It's a fine balance between freshening certain areas of the pitch up and trying to have a level of consistency because we want to try and get into a flow and rhythm of how we want to work.

“So, it's just trying to find that balance between freshening things up so that we can be right at it in terms of how we want to set up, but also making sure that we're not clunky and disjointed in what we're trying to do.

“But in the next couple of games, there'll be changes. We’ll see how the (Leicester) game goes and then on to Saturday, where I'm sure there'll be one or tweaks again. We’ve got Dan back, which is a huge boost, but in terms of injuries, it's as we were and it's probably a few weeks away from that changing.”