Interim Following Tuesday night’s draw at Elland Road, Sunderland manager Mike Dodds heaped praise on Leeds United while also making a daring claim.
Sunderland entered the midweek match in West Yorkshire having won only one of their previous ten games, but they took points off Leeds for the second time this season after a 0-0 draw at LS11. Dodds was also in temporary command of Sunderland when they faced Leeds at the Stadium of Light in December, where the Black Cats won 1-0 thanks to Jobe Bellingham’s late goal.
Four months later, Leeds were denied a wonderful opportunity to score a second-half winner against Sunderland when referee Tim Robinson and his colleagues failed to notice that Black Cats defender Luke O’Nien had punched clear a corner just as Joe Rodon was ready to plant a header at goal.
United’s penalty appeals were denied, and Sunderland drew with a team Dodds regarded as the finest in the division. The interim Black Cats manager also believes that United’s season will end with automatic promotion and considers playing against Whites boss Daniel Farke a privilege.
Dodds, on the other hand, claimed that he never believed Farke’s side would score against his team at Elland Road, and that decisions like not awarding Leeds a penalty were “swings and roundabouts” and part of the game.
When asked how proud he was of his players during Tuesday night’s post-match press conference, Dodds replied, “I’m happy for them. I don’t want to go over the top. I just told them in there that we drew the game, we didn’t win it, and I believe we should take the positives from it.
“I believe there were many positives. But we drew the game, and to be honest, I don’t want to sit here celebrating draws.
“I think our out-of-possession stuff was great. At no point did I believe Leeds would score, break down, or carve us open. I thought that all of their chances came from our poor play, and I just told the guys that my biggest disappointment was our ball-handling ability.
“I believe the evening would have been much more enjoyable for us if we had better ball quality, therefore my dissatisfaction with the game is our ball quality. I felt we turned the ball over way too many times, but I am pleased with the execution of the plan to stop their threats.
“I think they are the best team in the league, my personal opinion from what I have seen and to come here and obviously play them earlier in the year and not concede any goal over two games says everything about the group and says everything about the kind of preparation for the two games.”
When asked if he felt Leeds would get automatic promotion, Dodds said, “I think so. I’ve watched a lot of Leeds. I believe they have a tremendous framework to their play, but I also appreciate the freedom that Daniel affords his front half of the pitch players.
“I believe they are the best team I’ve planned and prepared for. I just felt that over the course of two games, our players completely executed the gameplan, making it extremely difficult for Leeds to break us down. The reality is that there was only one goal difference in the last game, and while Pat (keeper Anthony Patterson) had one save to make this evening, I felt that our chances were better.
“But I am quite respectful of the opponent in terms of quality. I consider it a big privilege to stand at the side of the pitch with Daniel. I want to strive to compete with the greatest. I believe he is one of the top players in the league, as is his squad.”
When asked if he had his heart in his mouth about the second-half handball penalty claim, Dodds replied, “I’ll be honest, it happened so quickly at the side of the pitch, you don’t really have an opportunity to kind of wobble on it, if that’s the right phrase.”
“The one thing I will say is that there have been so many times when I have been in this position where I have not criticised the referee. I can think of a few of instances at the Stadium of Light where I could sit here and criticise decisions that have gone against us. The reality is that the decisions are like swings and roundabouts, from my perspective.
“I believe you get them at times, but not always. I believe it would have been really cruel to our players if the game had been determined by that decision. If I’m being absolutely honest, I haven’t watched it back, but you get them occasionally and don’t always.
“I believe that refereeing can be a difficult job at times, and I will not sit here and criticize them, whether negatively or positively. As I’ve stated numerous times, my primary goal is to improve the players and the group while also attempting to establish an identity. I have no real concentration on the outside bits, such as refereeing and their decisions.
