Mike Dodds has explained the conversation he had with Pierre Ekwah after dropping him from Sunderland’s starting line-up.
Pierre Ekwah had been a regular in Sunderland’s team this season, with Corry Evans’ injury leaving them very light in that area of the pitch.
The Frenchman had been ‘brilliant’ up until a spell on the sidelines earlier in the season, but has since been criticised following the Black Cats’ dramatic decline in form.
Sunderland‘s lack of options in midfield meant that Ekwah continued to be picked alongside Dan Neil, however Mike Dodds eventually decided to bench him for the last two matches against Southampton and QPR.
His absence has allowed both Adil Aouchiche and Chris Rigg to take up opportunities in the starting line-up, but Dodds has now admitted that Ekwah will be brought back in after the international break.
Speaking toSunderland Echo, the interim coach said: “”I’ve had a couple of conversations with Pierre over the last couple of weeks, just about his general performance and I think he’s got huge potential.
“He’s got a big future in the game but I do also think he’s got certain things that he needs to be better with, and I pride myself on working with young players and improving them.
“I think that sometimes with young players, they need an honest conversation. Pierre and I have had that, I liked some of the things he did when he came on against QPR and he’d trained really, really well in the week leading up to the game. He will definitely feature in one of the two games over the Easter weekend. Pierre has got really, really high potential but it’s about him realising that at the moment, it’s just potential. We need to knit his game together a little bit more.”
Where should Pierre Ekwah fit into the Sunderland XI?
Pierre Ekwah definitely needed a spell on the bench after what has been a very difficult period for him.
The lack of midfielders in the squad forced the 22-year-old to make an immediate return following his injury, and arguably wasn’t really ready for it, which could well have had an impact on his form.
With Corry Evans also on the verge of his own comeback, I would be tempted to play both of them with Dan Neil, giving Jobe Bellingham a much-needed rest.
We opted to play more of a flat midfield three when we beat Stoke City at the start of the year and it worked well, so I would be tempted to play without an attacking midfielder once again.
Evans’ presence would allow Neil and Ekwah to push forward, and I think we are able to really get the best out of both of them when they don’t have to sit back and protect the defence.
We have really struggled in midfield this season and the hope is that Evans will be able to offer them some leadership and reliability for the remainder of the campaign.