What Sunderland boss told Adil Aouchiche after 'disappointing' reaction to Watford sub and where he can improve

Mike Dodds admits he was disappointed with Adil Aouchiche's response to be substituted at Watford, but added that the pair had quickly cleared the air and that he was 'really happy' with the forward's performance.

With Sunderland still struggling for solutions in the final third, Aouchiche played as a false nine at Vicarage Road. The attacking midfielder did a good job in a difficult task against Watford's back three, almost contributing an excellent assist when Chris Rigg dragged an effort just wide of the near post from Aouchiche's run and pass.

Aouchiche was replaced moments after Watford took the lead in the second half, taking off his shirt and heading straight down the tunnel - clearly frustrated with the decision of the interim head coach.

Dodds explained his decision afterwards and said it was not a reflection of his performance, which he had been impressed with.

"Losing Dan Neil for us is a big miss tactically and I feel with the shape, the players have a real understanding out of possession and we're really hard to play against," Dodds explained.

"My criticism in recent weeks has been a little more about being fluid in possession and in spells at Watford, maybe not consistently, but in spells we looked a lot more fluid. I think that's a good position for Adil - I know he was disappointed when he came off but I've just spoken to him there and I felt he had a good game. He linked midfield well, he threatened in behind and it's always difficult when you play against three big defenders. That's always going to be a bit of a mismatch [physically] but I genuinely thought he had a good game and I was really happy with.

"He'll naturally be disappointed with the change but we just felt that Abdoullah naturally being quite quick would open up their backline and I thought he did. I thought the subs when they came impacted the game well."

Dodds admits he feels he can sometimes forget Aouchiche's youth, given his experience at Ligue 1 level on Wearside. The interim boss says he is pleased with the youngster's progress and has set out where he wants to see him improve.

"Adil is a really good lad and I forget that he's still only 21 at times - sometimes I need to check myself a bit because I can treat him as if he's a bit older in terms of his maturity." Dodds said.

"He's a good footballer with lovely technique, I do feel he needs to be more consistent with his in-possession things. He can do some really nice things which catch the eye but I also think he can do some immature things at times. So we need to build that maturity but he's a good player - when I took over the team I told him that when we played with a ten and a certain way, he'd be one of the first players I look too. His role was a bit more hybrid today but I thought he played really well. I was disappointed with his reaction, he was disappointed that he came off but we've spoken about it there and I can't criticise either his work ethic or his performance."