Meet the Sunderland coach who could take charge of West Brom and Leeds United fixtures - as it stands

Sunderland announced on Monday night that Tony Mowbray had departed the club, with Mike Dodds taking interim charge as the team prepares for challenging home games against West Brom and Leeds United.

While it remains possible that the process to appoint a new head coach will be concluded by that stage, as it stands Dodds will be in charge for those games. He will be supported by the club's remaining senior coaching staff, which includes fellow first-team coach and former Sunderland striker Michael Proctor as well as goalkeeping coach Alessandro Barcherini. All three are 'club appointments', designed to help link the way the first team operates with the rest of the club regardless of who is head coach at the time. All are likely to stay on following the appointment of a new head coach as a result. U21 boss Graeme Murty also has significant experience in senior football, and so could be called upon this week in some capacity.

Dodds will take charge in the interim, having developed an increasingly influential role is the first-team set up since his arrival from Birmingham City. Dodds worked closely with sporting director Kristjaan Speakman during their time in the Birmingham academy, and had initially been widely expected to follow him to Sunderland. Instead, Dodds opted to stay and replace Speakman as Academy manager at St Andrews, which was widely seen as a big coup for the club whose academy status was the subject of fierce speculation at the time.

Dodds worked closely with Jude Bellingham during his time at St Andrews, with the Real Madrid midfielder praising him for the contribution he made to his development to this very day. After Dodds’ departure from Birmingham, Jude’s father Mike tweeted: "Kids need teachers. Doddsy is an incredible teacher. As a family, we thank him for the care he showed towards their learning. They would not have progressed in the same way elsewhere.”

Dodds initially arrived on Wearside as an individual development coach, but was quickly promoted to the first-team coaching group. He previously led the side alongside Proctor in the aftermath of Lee Johnson's departure, and though the team fell to defeats against Doncaster Rovers and Cheltenham Town, Dodds has the absolute trust of the sporting director.

Most importantly, he has significantly greater experience now - not just because of that time at the helm but because of the way his role has grown during Tony Mowbray's tenure. One of the factors that made Mowbray and Sunderland such a good fit, at least for a good while, was his willingness to delegate and empower the young coaches in his set up. As such, Dodds is a vocal presence on the training ground and has had significant input into the tactical set up of the team, in everything from opposition analysis to game preparations.

Every Sunderland player has an individual development plan overseen by one of the coaches - meaning that Dodds has a close relationship with many in the dressing room. As such, he is seen as an ideal figure to manage the transition and oversee operations while Mowbray's successor is identified.

When that moment comes - only time will tell.