Mike Dodds lays down challenge to key Sunderland player after 'honest' talks on frustrating season

Mike Dodds says he expects Patrick Roberts to be back to his best next season after holding ‘honest’ discussions with the winger about his frustrating campaign.

Roberts returned from a hamstring injury in Sunderland’s 5-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on Monday afternoon, dropping to the bench for Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Bristol City. The 27-year-old looked much sharper in his late cameo and Sunderland’s interim head coach says he is determined to capture last season’s form next time out.

“I didn’t think Pat was great against Blackburn and that’s not a pop – I could label that at a lot of players,” Dodds said.

“But we had a really honest conversation around that, and Pat showed real maturity in terms of an admission on his behalf that he was completely below par. Pat knows my thoughts: his ability is Premier League, that is without question. Pat’s probably not going to like me at times because I probably need to put some stronger boundaries in with him. That will hopefully get the best out of him. It’s unfortunate that we’ve only got five games left. When I took over the team, if I’d have had a fully-fit Patrick Roberts, I’m sure the results would have looked completely different. We’ve had an honest conversation about the future, and Pat needs to really knuckle down in pre-season. Pat should be a pillar for this football club, to take us back to the Premier League.

“For whatever reason, this year hasn’t really gone to plan,” Dodds added.

“We’ve had an honest conversation and Pat has told me some stuff that will remain private between us two, but by his own admission, he hasn’t hit the standards that he probably hit last year. But I expect a really big pre-season from Pat, and while I’m not saying I expect him to be new and improved, I do expect a Patrick Roberts who should be playing in the Premier League from next season.”

Dodds’ options in attacking areas have improved considerably with the return of Roberts and Jack Clarke, who completed 90 minutes against Bristol City. The interim head coach says it is a big lift for the dressing room ahead of the run in.

“Jack’s really robust,” Dodds said.

“I didn’t want to play him for the 90 minutes. I wanted to see how he felt, but he’s just so robust and he’s got such an engine on him. Don’t get me wrong, I think he tired towards the end of the game, but I think a lot of our players tired and I thought a lot of Bristol City’s players looked really tired too. That’s why the game kind of petered out a little bit. To have Jack and Pat back in the dressing room is a huge psychological boost for the group because I’ve had four or five games where it’s been really difficult to get any momentum. Sometimes, when you miss players of that quality, it’s not Sunderland that’s going to miss those players, any club in the Championship would miss that quality too.”