The staggering Sunderland stats which show Mike Dodds’ challenges after Southampton and Leicester defeats

The average age of Sunderland’s starting XI for their Championship fixture at Southampton was just 21-years-old - the youngest in the league this season, going under the previous figure (21.9) when the Black Cats faced Leicester four days earlier.

In fact, the 14 youngest starting XIs in the second tier this term have been named by Sunderland. Of course, there are two ways of looking at that. In theory, the Black Cats have a squad which will only get better and increase in value, yet, on a run of six consecutive defeats, the group have little experience to draw upon.

Dan Ballard, who has emerged as one of the squad’s more experienced members, was Sunderland's oldest player at 24 against Southampton, yet he has only been at the club for a year and a half, and missed half of last season due to injuries. The centre-back was also forced off with a hamstring issue in the second half as the side’s backline became extremely stretched during a 4-2 defeat at St Mary’s.

Interim head coach Mike Dodds, who has overseen four of Sunderland’s last six losses, isn’t immune to criticism, yet there’s no getting away from the fact he’s had an extremely tough task. Without top scorer Jack Clarke, along with suspensions for Ballard and captain Luke O’Nien, the side’s lack of depth compared to the teams they’re competing with has been brutally highlighted.

Southampton boss Russell Martin was able to bring Joe Aribo, Sekou Mara and Kamaldeen Sulemana off the bench against Sunderland, with the trio costing a combined total of £36million - excluding add-ons. It was a similar story when the Black Cats faced Leicester, as James Justin, Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho (who cost a reported £48million combined) were brought on after being left out of the starting XI.

White there is the argument, if you’re good enough you’re old enough, you can’t help but feel Sunderland’s decision to sell experienced players and replace them with potential has put them in a challenging position at this stage of the season. With the likes of Danny Batth, Lynden Gooch and Alex Pritchard, the Black Cats appeared to have the right mix of youth and experience last term. It now feels like the scales have tipped too far in one direction.