Mike Dodds names five areas where he immediately wants Sunderland to improve

Sunderland players won't be getting an easy ride under Mike Dodds, with him already demanding improvement in five different areas.

Mike Dodds says he already has a list of five things he is determined to improve in the Sunderland team as he prepares for the first game in his third interim spell as head coach.

Sunderland have been maddeningly frustrating this season, going from looking strong exciting yet toothless under Tony Mowbray to rigid yet defensively vulnerable under Michael Beale.

Dodds was part of the coaching set-up under both of those men, but he will now get the chance to lead the club for the remaining 13 games of the season – and he has already identified a lengthy list of problems he needs to fix.

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“The way I work in terms of coach, I'm hyper critical of myself,” Dodds said.

“So it's not just the away form. There's loads of things we need to be better at in terms of our structure in possession, our structure out of possession, in terms of set pieces for and against, in terms of the number of goals we've scored.

“So, if I had to write down a of things that I would be critical of myself for now I'm in this position, that would be a list of a few things.

“But that's probably the beauty of me being in this role because I've got to take those responsibilities on. I've got to take that responsibility on and I'm quietly comfortable improving all those areas.”

If there is one thing that Dodds does not appear to be lacking in, though, it’s confidence, even if he manages to express it with an admirable humility.

He, though, says a lot of that comes from the relationship he has with the players and knowing he has their trust.

“I'm quietly confident in myself, I'm quietly confident in terms of the way I work,” Dodds said.

“I think I've got a good relationship with the group. I get a feel off them that they kind of like me. I like them. So I know we're going to prepare properly. So in terms of that, I take a lot of confidence.

“The bit that gives you anxiety is when that whistle blows, you can't control some of the things that happens on the pitch. That's the bit that gives you a little bit of anxiety.

“In terms of everything else, I'm kind of relaxed and confident.”

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