Sunderland manager Mike Dodds is hoping to turn around a bad run of results against Leicester City.

Mike Dodds believes he will freshen up his Sunderland squad on Tuesday night, but he will resist the temptation to make wholesale changes in an attempt to turn around his team’s poor form.

Sunderland face the league leaders after losing four Championship games in a row, and Dodds is concerned about the impact three tough fixtures in a week would have on his players. While stating that there will be some changes, he also stated that it is critical to attempt to maintain consistency throughout the team for what will be another difficult match.Dan Ballard’s return to the starting lineup is almost probable after serving his two-game suspension, with Dodds certain the defender will be ready to go after a little break. Dodds is anticipated to announce an unchanged squad on Tuesday night, with Corry Evans and Bradley Dack set to resume their separate recoveries in a U21 match during the following week.

“Yeah, in this game and the next game we’ll have to utilise the squad,” Dodds went on to say.

“It’s a delicate mix between refreshing some portions of the pitch and maintaining a level of consistency because we want to get into a flow and rhythm of how we want to work. So it’s just a matter of striking a balance between freshening things up so that we can be precise in terms of how we want to set up, but also ensuring that what we’re trying to do isn’t cumbersome or disjointed.

“There will be modifications in the next few games; we’ll see how tomorrow night goes, and then there will be one or two tweaks again on Saturday. We’ve had Dan Ballard back, which is a tremendous help, but in terms of injuries, we’re back to where we were and it’ll probably be a few weeks before that changes.”

According to Dodds, Ballard’s form and recent absence have highlighted not only his importance to the squad, but also his standing as one of the greatest center defenders in the Championship.

“If you look at the first game that I took [against Swansea City], it was glaringly obvious straightaway how important Dan was to us,” he went on to say.

“It was a huge loss to lose him, but hopefully we made the best of it. Dan travels with his country during international breaks, and he is strong and plays a lot of games for us while also training every day. When he was suspended, we gave him a few days to psychologically renew himself, and in the last seven to ten days, since he’s returned, he’s been energetic and cheerful, almost like signing a new player.

“I’m definitely looking forward to having him back in the squad and the team, and I believe he has demonstrated how essential he is to us during his absence. I mentioned the last time I took the team that I thought he was one of the finest defenders in the league, and I believe not having him on the team has further reinforced that assertion.”