The key selection decisions Sunderland will have to weigh up ahead of crucial Cheltenham game

Dodds added that he hoped a successor would be in place for Tuesday night's trip to Cheltenham Town, but that he would be overseeing the preparations in the short-term.It is of course a fluid situation capable of changing quickly, but as it stands it looks increasingly likely that Dodds will remain in charge for what is a crucial League One game.Sunderland cannot afford to let the gap to the top two grow any further, and equally there has to be some concern over the gap to the lower end of the play-off places shortening.If it is to be Dodds, then there are a number of key selection decisions that he will have to weigh up in the aftermath of Saturday's bitterly disappointing result and performance.Here, we take a closer look at what those changes could potentially look like...

CHANGE THE SHAPE

By and large the interim management team opted to keep the faith with the side who had been heavily beaten by Bolton Wanderers a week earlier.

The one significant change had been to move to a back five, with Carl Winchester taking up a role on the right of the three central defenders.

"I don't want to dwell too much on the past but we felt that at Bolton we were a little bit too open and exposed," Dodds said.

"We felt that the personnel would allow us to get a little bit more security in the back line, and what Winnie would give us is a shape-change without making a sub and you could see that in the second half when we went to a back four."

Dodds added that he didn't feel the goals necessarily came as a result of the team's shape, but the fact that the performance improved considerably with a back four in the second half will no doubt be in his thinking ahead of the game at Cheltenham.

While Sunderland have looked exposed at times with a back four on the road this season, their squad at this stage looks more suited to playing with genuine wide players.

That is particularly the case with Bailey Wright out injured and defensive options light following Tom Flanagan's deadline-day departure for Shrewsbury Town, Denver Hume joining Portsmouth the previous week.

Dodds said he would reflect further on the matter once he had a chance to watch the game back and reflect more closely on where the Black Cats had fallen short.

He said player feedback would be 'absolutely welcomed', too.

CHANGE THE WIDE PLAYERS

There were very few positives to come from that demoralising defeat to Doncaster Rovers but Jack Clarke was arguably one.

The Tottenham Hotspur loanee was lively and direct, creating a couple of good openings for his team thanks to his willingness to get on the ball and drive at defenders.

Should Sunderland revert to a back four then he will surely be in contention for a full debut should the interim management team be looking to freshen things up.

Patrick Roberts will also be considered, though it remains to be seen whether he is ready to complete 90 minutes after being an unused substitute on Saturday afternoon.

If Dodds and his staff want to keep some element of continuity in the XI, then Leon Dajaku is another option who could come in after dropping to the bench against Doncaster.

A DEBUT FOR JAY MATETE

Sunderland's interim team opted not to hand Jay Matete a full debut, with Dodds explaining afterwards: "Jay came in this week and it's a big move for him, he's a young man coming from Fleetwood and you have to weigh up all those factors when you are picking the team."

The 20-year-old did look bright in his late cameo, and the backroom staff will surely be weighing up a change in the midfield blend after the game on Saturday.

Corry Evans did score a late consolation and Dan Neil did improve in the second half, forcing one excellent save from distance, but the latter in particular looked as if he could benefit from a rest.

Matete has been a regular for Fleetwood Town this season, so the demands of the Cheltenham Town game should be nothing new.

It looks like one of the easiest ways of getting some freshness into the team after a challenging week.

THE JERMAIN DEFOE WILDCARD

Defoe had little real chance to impact the game on Saturday afternoon, making a couple of dangerous runs but seeing very little of the ball as Sunderland unsuccessfully tried to overturn the two-goal deficit.

Starting the 39-year-old looks unlikely to be one of the options seriously considered by the interim management team, with Dodds saying that his introduction would have to be carefully managed given the limited game time he had enjoyed up until his arrival late on deadline day.

"We have a duty of care to Jermain because he has only played nine minutes of football this season," he said.

"His quality is undoubted, but he has not just come in to play for this one game, he has come in to play for the remainder of the season and try to get us out of the league."

The option to pair him up front with Ross Stewart will no doubt be a tempting one at some stage over the coming weeks, whoever the new head coach turns out to be.

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