Mike Dodds has explained why the Sunderland duo were left out of the matchday squad to face Watford.
Sunderland fell to a second consecutive defeat yesterday as they were beaten 1-0 by Watford.
Mike Dodds continued to rely on his favoured five at the back formation that has seen them keep five clean sheets in the last eight matches, despite only scoring four goals in that time.
The interim coach did make a couple of changes from the team that lost to Millwall last week though, with Trai Hume replacing Timothee Pembele and Adil Aouchiche coming in for Bradley Dack.
In fact, the midfielder wasn’t even named on the bench after making his first start since Boxing Day.
Dack wasn’t the only one left out either, with Mason Burstow also absent from the squad for the fourth time this season.
The Chelsea loanee hasn’t featured for Sunderland since the 0-0 draw against QPR last month, but has been an unused substitute since then.
Burstow’s place on the bench was taken by Tom Watson, who was also unable to pick up any minutes for the senior team.
Why Bradley Dack & Mason Burstow were missing
Dodds has now explained why Dack and Burstow were missing from the squad.
When he was asked by the Sunderland Echo if their absences was down to them leaving the club this summer, he said: “There was a little bit of that though that wasn’t the final decision.
“Bradley had been in and out of training, he’d only trained once in the week and so I didn’t want to include him without that full week under his belt. I spoke to Mason, that was more that when I was planning my bench – I didn’t see a scenario where I was going to put both Mason and Luis Hemir on the pitch.
“I also felt that when I watched Tommy Watson for the U21s earlier this week that he deserved an opportunity to be in and around the squad. He’s been training with us lately and will do so again next week, so we’ll see how he does then.”
Tom Watson is more deserving of his place in the squad
Fans have been urging Dodds to drop the pair for weeks now, with Burstow set to return to Stamford Bridge soon, while Dack’s contract will expire.
Giving the pair a space on the bench is really just a complete waste, especially given that the teenager hasn’t even stepped foot on the pitch for the previous six matches.
Instead, we need to be using their places in the squad for some of our exciting young talent, with Watson named on the bench for only the third time this season.
Dodds has suggested that perhaps Burstow has played his last game for the team though, with Watson probably likely to keep his spot on the final day.
Hopefully he can pick up some minutes though, with the last match against Sheffield Wednesday only really deciding how far down the table we will actually finish.
