The 'unfinished business' for Mike Dodds in the Sunderland dugout - and a clear play-off message

Mike Dodds admits he is still smarting from Sunderland's defeat to Bristol City in the final game of his previous interim spell, and is determined to put it right starting against Swansea City on Saturday afternoon.

Dodds made a positive impression following Tony Mowbray's departure in December, overseeing back-to-back wins against West Brom and Leeds United. While the interim boss was delighted to win those games and put to bed any lingering disappointment of his first stint at the helm, he admits it is the 1-0 defeat at Ashton Gate that still plays on his mind.

"I've definitely unfinished business from that game at Bristol," Dodds said.

"I've had a lot of compliments after the last spell which is lovely, but I just can't get that last game out of my head. As much as the Leeds and West Brom games were positive performances, rightly or wrongly I'm the type of person that will look back on the things I didn't do well. I don't think there was anything overly wrong with the performance in Bristol, but when you lose you micro analyse whether you could have done things better.

"I want to put that one right, definitely."

Back-to-back defeats have left Sunderland seven points adrift of the play-off places but Dodds insists that very much remains the target for him and his players.

“There’s still a lot of football to be played," he said.

"The league has shown that anyone in the league can lose back-to-back games, so even the teams in front of us are not not within touching distance. We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. It’s not lost on me the magnitude of the football club and the expectation. We’ve got to live up to that. Whether we are good enough or not good enough, that’s the aspiration."