JOBE Bellingham looks set to continue up-front for Sunderland against Leeds United on Tuesday after the teenager's impressive showing against West Brom.

In the week Jude Bellingham described his younger brother as a "thoroughbred striker", Jobe got the nod up-top for the Black Cats, preferred to the four strikers on the club's books by interim boss Mike Dodds.

Dodds knows both Bellingham family very well having worked with the brothers as they came through the ranks at Birmingham, and Jobe played most of his early football as a striker before moving back into midfield.

The 18-year-old is comfortable up-front and had a spell leading Sunderland's line earlier in the season.

Dodds said: "I've had the privilege of coaching him from a very young age, and I watched him playing as a striker pretty much up until the U14s. It wasn't until he got a bit older that his position changed.

"I'm not saying he's a number nine, just that he's a player who has a knack of breaking the box and who can naturally find space in the box. The reality is that for an 18-year-old, with a bit of luck he could have almost double figures to his name this season. We'll see what Tuesday brings but as I've said before, the reality is I could play him anywhere on the pitch and he'd perform."

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Bellingham has played a lot of football for Sunderland this season, despite his age, and while he'll be managed carefully, Dodds isn't concerned.

"You stand next to him, he's got a unique body for an 18-year-old," he said.

"We'll see how the next 48 hours go, we've done most of our prep in terms of how we'll set up against Leeds United but we'll see how the next couple of games go and make a decision from there."

Bellingham was denied his fourth goal of the season against West Brom when his early strike was wrongly ruled out for offside.

Dodds said: "The guys were saying his goal early on was onside. We have the privilege of being able to use a lot of resources, clips, data - all those sorts of things.

"Jobe had a goal at QPR that was chalked off, one today that was chalked off. He arguably should have scored at Leicester, he could have scored against Birmingham and Ipswich.

"What that shows is that he has a real knack of being in the right place at the right time, and I don't think you can coach that. What we have to do is just tidy those bits up."