Dodds down in dumps despite Patterson heroics
SUNDERLAND stopped the rot – but still got both barrels from Mike Dodds.
The Black Cats had keeper Anthony Patterson to thank for snapping a six-game losing streak to take them to the verge of Championship safety.
But the injury-hit Wearsiders were booed-off by disgruntled fans after another afternoon to forget.
They failed to muster a shot on target to post their worst league run since 2013 and interim boss Dodds admitted: “It’s a point that stops the chain of events we’ve had for the last six games.
“Saying that I was really disappointed with the performance.
“We were slow and we were ponderous and it was a really naive and clunky display.
“I’ve tried to sit here and spin positives at times but there wasn’t a huge amount I liked about that game.
“We’re a young side and I can’t question the effort and endeavour but we’re short at the moment.
“Any side in this division would struggle to cope with missing 10 players but I take no satisfaction that our goalie has kept us in the game.
“We’ve got some bodies coming back for the Easter weekend which will give us a huge boost.
“So when we return to action the squad will have a little bit more depth and quality to it.
“I knew it was going to be a difficult afternoon and the crowd’s reaction is understandable because we’ve lost six on the bounce but everyone at the club will come out of this run better for the experience.”
England Under-21 international Patterson made stunning saves early in the first-half and late in the second to deny Lucas Andersen and Chris Willock to earn a first clean sheet since New Year’s Day. Willock also saw a cross bounce off the bar as Rangers stretched their impressive run to two defeats in the last 11 games to maintain the one-point gap on the drop zone. The Rs were five points adrift of safety in mid-january, and with eight games left boss Marti Cifuentes expects the battle for survival to go down to the wire.
The Spaniard said: “After a good performance like that, it’s two points dropped.
“We’re improving week by week and making things hard for our opponents but the reality is that we’re in a big relegation battle with a lot of teams.
“We worked hard again but unfortunately for us Anthony Patterson made some good saves to help Sunderland.” SUNDERLAND: Patterson 8; Hume 6, Ballard 6, Hjelde 6, Styles 6; Neil 6, Bellingham 4; Mundle 4 (Burstow (78) 4), Aouchiche 5, Ba 4 (Rigg (58) 6); Hemir 4 (Ekwah (57) 5) QPR: Begovic 7; Dunne 6, Cook 6, Clarke-salter 6, Paal 6; Colback 6, Hayden 6 (Field (84) 5); Willock 6, Andersen 6 (Smyth (84) 5), Chair 4 (Hodge (63) 5); Dykes 4 (Armstrong (64) 6) STAR MAN: Anthony Patterson – Made some crucial saves to earn his side an important point. REF: Oliver Langford 7