Sunderland AFC news: Mike Dodds reveals team news and injury latest as Will Still leaves Reims

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Mike Dodds’ pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Sheffield Wednesday.

The Black Cats boss is set to speak to the media at 9am - and we’ll have live updates from the Academy of Light.

Stick around and refresh the page for the latest SAFC news.

In terms of team news, Dan Neil (below), Elliot Embleton, Niall Huggins and Jenson Seelt remain sidelined for Saturday’s match against Sheffield Wednesday.

Dennis Cirkin has returned to training following a hamstring injury, yet may not be risked following a lengthy layoff.

Nazariy Rusyn may also miss out again as he recovers from a calf issue. 

We’ll get a further update from Dodds this morning.

We’ll start with yesterday’s news that Will Still has left his role at French club Stade de Reims.

The 31-year-old was a contender to become Sunderland’s head coach back in December, yet the Black Cats would have had to pay a significant compensation fee.

Still has previously made clear his desire to manage in England.

Read more HERE

“I’m really proud of what I’ve done. I appreciate what some of the narratives will be. I sat here at the start saying I will be judged by winning and losing. I think I’ve had quite a difficult hand to deal with in terms of players’ availability, fixtures and things I’ve had to deal with.

“There is a tinge of disappointment because I know how important this club is to so many people. I’m not going to sit here and tell you the ins and outs that go on here every single day. I will go away on Saturday evening really proud of the things I’ve had to deal with.”

“The first game was a real disappointment for me because I tried to run before I could walk. That was a real eye opener for me. Obviously the Blackburn game was one I had a huge amount of disappointment about because I didn’t see that coming.

“They are probably the first two that stand out in terms of the disappointments. There are also some I’m really proud of.”

“For me it’s depth. We are one of the youngest teams in the Championship, which we are all onboard with. When you have a couple of injuries, you have under-18s on the bench and it’s even younger.

“For me my overriding thoughts on it would be having more depth in a number of positions.”

“Dennis won’t be involved. He’s been training with the group and it's a risk and reward. Do we look to involve him, or accept the fact it’s a couple of weeks too early? Fingers crossed he will have a wonderful pre-season and show what a wonderful footballer he is.”

“The Jack situation, I don’t read the stuff online. I’ll be really intrigued about the Jack situation because he still has a long period on his contract. There was a lot of interest last summer which the club didn’t feel was anywhere near their valuation.

“I don’t feel it is as completely forgone that Jack is just going to leave the football club because he still has a length on his contract still and the club have shown they will not let anyone go on the cheap.

“Jack is one of the positives of the recruitment model. He’s gone from strength really. There is a huge amount he still needs to improve and get better at but he’s a good kid, I’ve always said that. He moans about everything but you can live with the moaning if he produces the numbers he’s produced.”

“In terms of strikers, I think the game is just evolving. I can’t think of many traditional num ber nines. There are so few of them. The number nine has been talked about alot this season and rightly so. 

“I don’t think the answer is we have to find a number nine, I think we have to find more attacking options with more variation. Some of our attackers this season have performed well and some haven’t performed well. I think there has got to be a reflection from some of our players, because it can’t just be that we have to recruit new players. Sometimes the players we have have got to get better and improve. Some of that is my responsibility but the other part is their responsibility.”