Mike Dodds has hailed one Sunderland player as one of the ‘best’ in his position in the Championship.
Sunderland have been extremely poor since Michael Beale’s appointment in December, while they have added a further two defeats to their record since he was sacked.
A number of poor performances from the likes of Luke O’Nien, Jobe Bellingham and Pierre Ekwah has led to the Black Cats dropping down to tenth place, while the team have come under heavy criticism in recent weeks.
While their star man Jack Clarke remains sidelined until next month, one key player – and one of few who have been praised this term – who will return against Plymouth Argyle tonight is Dan Ballard.
The centre-back has made 32 appearances for the Wearside outfit this season and has been ‘a revelation‘ for the most part, though his two-match suspension had left a hole in the team.
Ballard was replaced by Jenson Seelt against Swansea City and Norwich, but the backline looked significantly weaker without the Arsenal academy graduate.
Ballard is likely to slot straight back into central defence, and Mike Dodds has admitted that his importance has been ‘glaringly obvious’ in his absence.
Speaking to Chronicle Live, the interim coach said: “I think the first game that I took it was glaringly obvious how important he was to us.
“Obviously during international breaks, Dan goes away with his country, he’s robust, he plays a lot of games for us, he trains every day, so it was important we gave him a few days to mentally refresh himself.
“I must admit the last seven to 10 days he has been bouncy and bubbly – it’s almost like signing a new player really. I’m really looking forward to him being back in the squad and the team and what he has done is show how important he is to us. I have said previously I think he is one of the best defenders in the league and I think not having him in the team has cemented that kind of statement.”
How much have we missed Dan Ballard?
Dan Ballard has been tremendous for Sunderland this season and has been the reason for a lot of results being a bit tighter than they could have been.
The 24-year-old has made the most clearances in the squad (138), the most shots blocked (29) and has won the most headers (94).
He is comfortably one of the most important players and brings some leadership to a team that is really lacking with experience, while he is also proved handy at the opposite end of the pitch too.
Ballard has scored against QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and West Brom this season, with the defender arguably our biggest threat from set pieces.
We miss him all over the pitch and hopefully his return this evening can be a turning point.