Sunderland boss Mike Dodds has reserved praise for this ‘top, top’ Black Cats player ahead of Norwich City.
Sunderland return to action with a trip to Norwich City in the Championship on Saturday.
It’s an important game in the race for top six with Sunderland sitting in 10th and Norwich City in 7th; the Black Cats are eight points outside the top six, and the Canaries three points.
Dodds’ first game back as interim boss ended in a 2-1 defeat against Swansea City at the Stadium of Light last weekend.
The 37-year-old though says that his players have reacted and trained well this week, ahead of a tough game against a Norwich side unbeaten in five.
And this weekend’s game has been made tougher following the news that Jack Clarke is sidelined for the next six weeks.
With Clarke sidelined, Dodds will need to rely on others to provide the spark for Sunderland.
And that someone could well be January signing Romaine Mundle.
The 20-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur youngster joined on a permanent deal from Standard Liege on deadline day, and has since featured four times in the Championship for Sunderland.
He’s started just one game so far, but could play a big part in the run-in following the injury to Clarke.
Speaking about the former Spurs prodigy ahead of this weekend, Dodds said:
“I’m a big Romaine fan and in the little snippets that I’ve seen, I see a raw talent. I see a similar type of player to Jack (Clarke). If he listens and works hard, there is always an element of luck in development as well, but I think we’ve potentially got a real top, top player.”
Dodds concluded: “Romaine’s got a big future at this football club, and I think the fans should be excited about that.”
Mundle has big shoes to fill at Sunderland. At the time, it seemed like Mundle was brought in to eventually replace, if not then ease the loss of Clarke.
Many expect Clarke to move on this summer, but it appears that he may well have played his last game for the Black Cats now, with this injury potentially sidelining him until the end of the season.
So Mundle may have to step up sooner than expected, and he has some big shoes to fill.
We haven’t seen enough of him yet to know if he’s a like for like player with Clarke. But Dodds’ high praise for the youngster should speak volumes; Dodds previously worked with Jude Bellingham at Birmingham City.
Expect the remainder of this season to be a sort of introduction for Mundle, who’s only played 10 league games in senior football, including his four for Sunderland.
But this weekend could be the perfect chance to bring him into the XI and let him show the fans and indeed Dodds what he’s capable of.
