'Big' - Phil Smith baffled by what Mike Dodds did during Sunderland vs Doncaster

Sunderland Echo reporter Phil Smith was left baffled by Mike Dodds making no substitutions at half-time as Sunderland trailed 2-0 at home to Doncaster Rovers in League One.

Last time out, the Black Cats were thumped 6-0 away at Bolton Wanderers, which of course cost Lee Johnson his job after a string of worrying performances.

They were 2-0 down at half-time in that fixture too, with the other four goals coming after the interval, and The Chronicle journalist James Hunter has suggested that their performance in the first half against Doncaster was even worse.

With that in mind, it beggars belief that interim boss Dodds opted not to make a single change after the first 45 this weekend.

Taking to Twitter, Sunderland Echo journalist Smith has given his reaction to the decision by Dodds not to make any changes at half-time, calling it a ‘big call’:

“No changes at HT….. That’s a big call.”

Perhaps no surprise then that it didn’t pay off, with Corry Evans’ second-half goal not enough to rescue any points.

Given that SAFC were 2-0 down at half-time once again, it was truly baffling that Dodds chose not to change things up for the second half, especially considering the quality of options available after some clever January business.

With the likes of Jermain Defoe and Patrick Roberts on the bench, he had plenty of attacking talent and experience at his disposal, but decided to stay put despite things clearly not working.

Doncaster are currently bottom of the League One table, and so this is a game that the Wearside club, especially at home in front of their own fans, really should be expecting to win comfortably.

In other news, find out what big double boost Sunderland received before the match here!

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