Mike Dodds has claimed that Sunderland fans should be getting very ‘excited’ about one player after his display against Leicester City.
After four defeats in a row, Mike Dodds decided to change things up against the Foxes. The interim coach reverted to a back five following Dan Ballard’s return, while he replaced Romaine Mundle with Chris Rigg in the starting line-up.
It was another underwhelming first half for the Black Cats as they conceded to Jamie Vardy, but Dodds claimed his side were ‘sensational’ in the second, despite being unable to prevent another loss.
While there is a lot of frustration that Sunderland are still winless, all the focus was on Chris Rigg after making his first start for the club.
The 16-year-old was substituted in the final ten minutes of the game to a standing ovation, with the applause continuing as he made his way around the pitch for minutes after.
Rigg was the standout player for the Black Cats and Mike Dodds has admitted that he didn’t really want to take him off after his ‘wonderful’ performance.
Speaking to Sunderland Echo, Dodds said: “I really liked his performance.
“I thought he was really selfless in terms of the out-of-possession stuff because they tweaked one or two things which we didn’t expect. I felt Riggy adapted to it really well.
The plan was to maybe get an hour out of him, but I knew he would go to the well. I knew he would give us absolutely everything, and that’s why I thought it was a really good game for him, because we needed everyone to empty the tank. I just felt that, in the second half, he was so effective, I left him on for as long as I possibly could, taking into account that he’s a first-year scholar.
“People should be excited by Riggy. I’m excited to work with him over the next few years, I think he’s potentially a wonderful talent.”
How excited should we be about Chris Rigg?
Supporters have been begging for Chris Rigg to start for weeks now and he proved exactly why last night.
The midfielder only turned 16 in June, but looked like one of the most experienced players on the pitch. Even Leicester couldn’t really handle him, and they are full of Premier League players.
Rigg had 42 touches, made one key pass, had two shots, won 100% of his dribbles, 100% of his ground duels, made one interception and won two tackles.
It was an outstanding display from Rigg and he should be starting every game for the rest of the season. Though no doubt Dodds will drop him against Southampton because he’s so young, despite starting Jobe Bellingham week in week out.
