Sunderland figure outlines reasons for Jermain Defoe decision in defeat to Doncaster

Sunderland interim manager Mike Dodds has revealed Jermain Defoe did not start the club’s 2-1 defeat to Doncaster on Saturday, as he wanted to protect the striker.

Defoe completed a fairytale return to Sunderland earlier this week, joining as a free agent following his release by Rangers back in January.

However, the striker was only handed a place on the bench for Saturday’s game with Doncaster, being brought on with 20 minutes remaining, though he was unable to inspire the Black Cats to come back and claim any sort of result from the game.

Now it seems that the reason behind Defoe’s late introduction, is the lack of football he has played during the campaign so far.

Speaking after the match about why the 39-year-old was only introduced late on, Dodds told the Sunderland Echo: “We have a duty of care to Jermain because he has only played nine minutes of football this season.

“His quality is undoubted, but he has not just come in to play for this one game, he has come in to play for the remainder of the season and try to get us out of the league.”

Similarly, deadline day signing Jay Matete was another introduced late on from the bench, and it appears that was also done to aid the midfielder’s introduction to the squad.

Discussing how the midfielder was used against Doncaster, Dodds went on to add: “Jay came in this week and he it’s a big move for him, he’s a young man coming from Fleetwood and you have to weigh up all those factors when you are picking the team.

“The starting XI had more than enough to beat Doncaster, we can’t shy away from that. We will be back in tomorrow morning and we will be making sure the preparation is as thorough as it can be.”

Sunderland are next in action when travel to Whaddon Road to  face