After scoring his first international goal, Jude Bellingham spoke about Sunderland coach Mike Dodds' impact on the midfielder's development at Birmingham City as a youngster...
DEVELOPED
"He's done everything for me really. He's developed me as a player and also a person really since I was a kid, and he's moulded the person that I am today."
GRATEFUL
"A lot of the reason why I play the way that I do is because of him. I'm very grateful to him for what he's done for me and how he's been the way I am. When I first started working with Mike, he was someone who accepted you for who you were. He never tried to change you and I think that's the most important thing."
FREEDOM
"I think there's been a theme in English football where talented players get moulded in a way that they don't express themselves or are as free as they'd like. I think you see I'm someone who is free on the pitch, I do what feels natural."
CHALLENGES
"I'd go into a game and he'd say, 'how many nutmegs can you get, how many goals, assists?' It was never a challenge that was restricting. Obviously there was the coaching where needed as well but I was never restricted. And more importantly, as a person in terms of how you should be with team-mates, how you become a leader."
DODDS SAID:
"I had a feeling he was going to score, I'm in Dubai with another team and I said to one of the staff here that I thought he was going to score. Jude breaks records everywhere he goes, whether it's at Birmingham City or at Borussia Dortmund, it's in his DNA a little bit I think. It was a good feeling to see him score. Jude always wanted to be challenged even from a young age, and he'd let you know if he wasn't. We had a really good relationship. I can't speak highly enough of him, he's a wonderful footballer but an even better human being."
