Here is what Mike Dodds had to say after we got back to winning ways with a 1-0 win over West Brom.
REALLY PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE
“I think it was really professional, that’s probably three performances we’ve had now where we’ve stuck to the task which I think is really important for our young players. Obviously the sending off is a big turning point in the game but even before that I didn’t really feel they got to our goal, then obviously scoring the goal after they’ve had the sending off is from my perspective, a massive positive because it takes the anxiety away from trying to break the opposition down and what it did do is it allowed us to be really professional in the second half. We have to be respectful, they’re fifth in the league, they’ve got some real quality players so they were always going to have moments but again they didn't really threaten the goal, I don’t think Patto had a save to make in the game really. So I would describe the performance as very professional, very thorough and a very good away performance.”
PIERRE EKWAH
“Yeah Pierre’s got good technique and I think Pierre’s in a good spot, I’ve just said to him in there I think when he tidies up with the bits he needs to tidy up with and there’s a little bit more focus you’re starting to see a really good midfield player and we had that conversation when I took over the team and he's reaping the rewards of doing exactly what we want from him.”
SOLID DEFENCE
“We always try to set the team up as well as possible, within those six games we did have a blip (Blackburn) so I’m not getting carried away with the other bits but I’m really proud of the group. It could get labelled this time of the season that they’ve got nothing to play for but They’re showing that they want to play for Sunderland Football Club, they’re showing that they want to be here and they want want to finish the season really strongly, I’ve made it really clear to them that if they don’t finish strongly it’s going to be an uncomfortable few weeks for them. They’re giving us everything, in particular out of possession we look as strong as we’ve ever been and we’ve just got to keep going in terms of creating more chances but that’s something which is a long term project for the group.”
FINALLY A WIN
“I don’t think it was a free flowing performance, I thought it was really professional but I felt the Leicester (away) game in particular we were excellent but the reality is at the end of the season they’re going to see a one nil defeat, now I don’t think that was free flowing but what they (Leicester) are going to see is a win so it’s trying to get that balance with performance and results, it’s a result based industry, we want to be a bit more fluid in possession with the ball but out of possession I can’t criticise them, I think they execute everything we want from them and we look like a really hard team to play against, and I think if the foundations moving forward you give yourself a really good chance.”
BACK AT HOME NEXT
“That will be a different type of game, there will be a completely different approach from the opposition so we might have to look at one or two things, but obviously its the second from last game at home and we want to make sure the next three games, but in particular the two homes gives the fans something to be happy about, but as I said every time we step out onto the pitch we’re trying to win the game of football, we won’t be setting up to draw games of football like there was a lot of praise for the group on Tuesday night and I had to make it really clear to them this football club’s not celebrating draws, thankfully today we had another solid performance but we got the goal at the right time."
