Mike Dodds reveals 'honest conversations' with Sunderland midfielder after recent selection call

Mike Dodds says he has had 'honest conversations' with Pierre Ekwah after the midfielder dropped out of the starting XI for the two most recent Championship fixtures.

Ekwah has been a regular since breaking through towards the end of last season, but has been used as a substitute by Dodds in the draw with QPR and the defeat to Southampton. Jobe Bellingham has dropped into a deeper midfield role as a result, handing opportunities to Chris Rigg and Adil Aouchiche further forward.

Dodds has admitted there are aspects of Ekwah's game where he wants to see improvements, but added that he is already encouraged by the midfielder's response and will give him a big chance to impress over the Easter weekend. Sunderland travel to Cardiff City on Good Friday, before returning to the Stadium of Light to face Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday.

"I've had a couple of conversations with Pierre over the last couple of weeks, just about his general performance and I think he's got huge potential," Dodds said.

"He's got a big future in the game but I do also think he's got certain things that he needs to be better with, and I pride myself on working with young players and improving them.

"I think that sometimes with young players, they need an honest conversation. Pierre and I have had that, I liked some of the things he did when he came on against QPR and he'd trained really, really well in the week leading up to the game. He will definitely feature in one of the two games over the Easter weekend. Pierre has got really, really high potential but it's about him realising that at the moment, it's just potential. We need to knit his game together a little bit more."

Dodds is hoping that his midfield options will be strengthened after the international break, with Corry Evans and Bradley Dack both featuring in a 3-2 defeat to Newcastle United U21s on Monday afternoon. Evans scored on his comeback, and both are expected to be named in the squad at Cardiff providing they train with no issues in the coming days.