Jack Clarke concern, Sunderland's tough fixtures and style of play: Mike Dodds' priorities ahead of Swansea

Mike Dodds has been named Sunderland’s interim boss until the end of the season - but what are his priorities with 13 league games remaining.

The Black Cats will be hoping to bounce back from successive defeats against Huddersfield and Birmingham, which lead to Michael Beale’s departure and has left Sunderland seven points off a play-off place. First up for Dodds’ is Saturday’s home match against Swansea, with five games remaining until March’s international break. Here are some of the things Sunderland’s interim boss will want to address:

Manage the absence of key players

Dodds’ job will be made harder by the absence of several first-team players. Top scorer Jack Clarke is expected to miss Saturday’s match and could be sidelined for longer with a foot issue he sustained at Birmingham last weekend. On the opposite flank, Patrick Roberts is set to be unavailable for around a month with a hamstring issue.

In defence, Dan Ballard will miss Sunderland’s next two matches after receiving his 10th yellow card of the season, resulting in a two-match suspension, while Aji Alese remains sidelined along with Dennis Cirkin and Niall Huggins. While the aforementioned players will be missed, their absences could provide opportunities for some of the club’s recent signings, including Jenson Seelt, Timothee Pembele and Adil Aouchiche, as well as January additions Romaine Mundle and Callum Styles.

Try to keep Sunderland in the play-off race

Sunderland’s margin for error has also shrunk significantly in recent weeks, with the gap widening to the top six. When you consider the Black Cats also have Norwich, Leicester and Southampton to play in their next four matches, it looks like an extremely challenging task to finish in the play-offs.

Yet Dodds has proved in the past he can get results against some of the division's best sides, following home wins over West Brom and Leeds when he took charge of the team back in December. The latter was particularly impressive, as Sunderland changed their approach, recording just 38 per cent possession, and formation to nullify Leeds’ attacking threat.

Excite the fans again 

While results are the ultimate metric head coaches and managers are judged on, Beale was also criticised for the style of football he implemented. As Sky Sports pundit Jobi McAnuff put it: “He’s taken a young, energetic, vibrant team and just dulled it down really.” Clearly Beale was trying to make Sunderland tougher to beat, with more focus on how the side played out of possession, yet the side’s attacking play was blunted as a result. 

In terms of goals, Sunderland scored 13 and conceded 13 in 11 league games under Beale, compared to scoring 12 and conceding 12 in the 11 league matches before his appointment. Yet the stats show there was a decline in Sunderland’s forward play, with the team averaging an expected goals figure of 1.75 per game under Tony Mowbray in the first part of the season. Under Beale, the Black Cats’ average XG dropped to 0.99 per game, with fans unimpressed by the side’s regression.

Dodds will be hoping he can make Sunderland an exciting side to watch again, while cutting out some costly errors at the back. Despite Beale’s more conservative approach, Sunderland haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last seven league games.