'Nowhere near acceptable': Mike Dodds reacts to Sunderland's defeat and has message for squad

The interim manager made five changes to the starting XI in search of a response to the defeat against Doncaster Rovers, but after an encouraging first half in which they took a well-deserved lead, the performance declined dramatically.

The gap to seventh is now looking perilously narrow after Sheffield Wednesday beat Wigan Athletic, and Dodds said the players 'have to find something with themselves'.

"I just said to the players, myself and Proc [Michael Proctor] have been asked to look after the team for the last seven to ten days," Dodds said.

"We tried to change the shape on Saturday which didn't work, today we tried to make changes to freshen it up, and for a while we looked better, more decisive, aggressive.

"But you can't concede those two goals.

"The reality is it's one win in eight now. I will take the responsibility for the last two results because I have been the captain of the ship for that time, but it was one win in six before that. So the players have got to find something within themselves, because this cannot continue.

"They've got to go to Wimbledon and win, that's the harsh reality.

"It's one win in eight, so confidence is a huge issue here and they've got to find something within themselves.

"They can't feel sorry for themselves, they've got to go and win."

Sunderland are expected to name a successor to Lee Johnson before the weekend, and Dodds is hoping that the new appointment will be able to restore the clearly brittle confidence in the dressing room.

"I'm working day to day, I'm just waiting for the call," Dodds said.

"The week is planned out, who leads it is not down to me.

"The lead up to both games has been meticulous. I wouldn’t have changed much about that. Would I have changed the line-ups, maybe. I'll have to reflect on that.

"I'm not going to abandon them.

"It is a baptism of fire for me, I've gone from the U18s and U23s to over 39,000.

"It's another poor result tonight. I have been the captain of the ship so I will take responsibility for it.

"I won't abandon the players, they are good guys, but they have to roll their sleeves up now and find something within themselves.

"One win in eight is nowhere near acceptable enough for this club.

"We tried to change the shape on Saturday, we had a good week training and I felt the players deserved the opportunity to try and correct what happened at Bolton," he added.

"That didn't happen, so that's my responsibility.

"We made five changes tonight to try and freshen the team up and I think we looked better.

"For whatever reason, when we concede a goal, there is something where, the players need to be stronger around those moments.

"You saw on Saturday, for the first 15 minutes we looked OK, but we conceded a goal and the game ran away from us.

"The incoming manager will hopefully have the answers.

"One win in eight, it suggests that there are some individuals in there who are very low on confidence."

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