Ballard to return for clash with the leaders
UPBEAT Mike Dodds will welcome back Dan Ballard after suspension against Leicester City and maintained: “I think it’s become glaringly obvious how important he is to us.”
Interim head coach Dodds has been without Ballard for the two games he has taken in defeats against Swansea City and Norwich City.
Now the 24-year-old returns for the home clash against leaders Leicester City, tonight, and Dodds will welcome him back with open arms.
“I think the first game that I took it was glaringly obvious how important he was to us,” said Dodds. “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.”
Leaders Leicester pose a massive threat despite losing their last three and Dodds added: “They are really clear in terms of the way they want to play. I don’t see them changing for us or anyone in the league. The coach is very thorough and forthright in the way they play and they are at the top of the league for a reason. “Is there ever a good time to play a Leicester team that have the quality they’ve got in depth even coming off the bench? I don’t know. I would expect them to make some changes because of the last three games.
“Where that will be we will find out. My prediction would be they are going to try and freshen things up.”
Dodds says the mentality of the squad is still a positive one despite four straight defeats and he won’t be asking the team to play safe to stop the rot of losses and make sure it doesn’t become
five or six. He explained: “The mentality hasn’t changed from my perspective. When you go down that route you put doubt in the players minds in executing the game-plan.
“We know we haven’t won for four games and I am completely clear on that but in terms of training ground feeling, the intensity and focus, you wouldn’t feel that from the players. That is not them being flippant or underestimating the situation, it’s not. You just wouldn’t know they have lost four on the bounce. They are at it, they are vibrant, they are asking all the right questions.” Dodds will make changes to utilise his squad as he tries to find a winning formula but warned it mustn’t be at the expense of looking “clunky and disjointed”.
He hopes his side gets the rub of the green, too. He added: “I don’t like using this but the reality is sometimes the ball goes for you and sometimes it doesn’t. At the moment it feels like we are not getting the rub of the green a little bit.
“But as a coach I don’t like to rely on that because I believe you make your own luck and your own fortunes.
“We have to keep turning up, doubling down on what we are doing and if we stick to our processes and how hard we are working one result will change our fortunes and hopefully it will snowball from there.
“It feels like we are in a similar position as last season. The difference in mentality is interesting. 12 months ago everybody was happy we were mid-table in the Championship. There wasn’t any, ‘we are getting in the playoffs.’ 12 months on now that’s the conversation but that’s a positive. It shows how far we have come.
“This is a crazy league. All it takes is two results one way and two results the other, then the whole complexity of the league really changes. We are really positive.”