Michael Beale and Kristjaan Speakman explain coaching staff decision and outline Mike Dodds plan at Sunderland

Kristjaan Speakman believes that Mike Dodds has shown that he could one day be a Sunderland head coach after being promote to assistant under Michael Beale.

Dodds' final game as interim head coach ended with a frustrating defeat to Bristol City but he impressed in his week at the helm, with the club statement announcing Beale's arrival stating that he was now taking 'the next step on his pathway'.

"I think Mike is on a very similar trajectory to Michael, and Michael is probably a little bit ahead of him on that," Speakman said on Wednesday.

"They've spent years and years crafting and perfecting their skills. Doddsy has done nothing different to when he took the Doncaster and Cheltenham games but in football, small margins can really impact the perception people have. What Doddsy has done is reflected and reviewed, come back stronger and when the opportunity came again, and by the way we had no doubt in his ability to take the team, he's been able to deliver and competently take the team forward.

"I'm sure one he day he wants to be a head coach, and he's got all the skills to do that, but he also understands the gravity of the role having done it on a couple of occasions. He's now in a really good position to offer the right kind of advice as an assistant head coach. I'm really proud of his progression and I'm really pleased that people have seen the positives he brings in the last couple of weeks, and I'm sure he'll have a huge part to play in Michael's success."

Beale said he was enthusiastic about working with Dodds having previously tried to recruit him, and said he was comfortable not bringing in his own backroom staff.

"I tried to nab Mike from a previous club off Kristjaan when we were recruiting there, so I know of him," Beale said.

"We've coached against each other coming through. He's really important to me, there's no manager that is super human and you need to share the workload, and we've done that already. He worked very well for Tony and it's not just Mike, Micheal Proctor knows the club inside out and Ally the goalkeeper coach as well. In time if we feel there's room and there's a need for it, we'll add to it. Everyone players their role, Mike is hugely important and we have a lot of the same beliefs, we've shared a lot over the years together.

"20 years working in academy football... generally every year staff are moving around and chopping and changing. I was never someone who was married to a staff. Here, the most important thing is I have an awareness of the local area and the club and the work being done in the academy, and I just want to take the time to assess things. I had a prior knowledge and understanding of Mike Dodds and his journey and it was important that I respected that. So there's no issue with it, if we add to it in the future then we add to it. It might be that we add from what's already in the building, or external, or we stay as we aware. But I think it's important that we reward the work being done inside [the building]."