MIKE Dodds gave Sunderland's players the silent treatment for 48 hours before he addressed the squad in the aftermath of Monday's 5-1 hammering against Blackburn.

The interim head coach wanted to calm down and gather his thoughts before he set about assessing the embarrassing heavy defeat and discussing how the Black Cats go about putting it right when Bristol City visit the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

When he did get round to speaking to the players, Dodds made it clear that his anger and disappointment remained - and says he hopes the humiliation is the "kick between the legs that we need to reset us".

He said: "I'll be honest, I didn't speak to the players after the game, I was really angry.

"Sometimes when you go into that space, you have to be really clear and get your words right and your messages correct. So I didn't speak to them after the game, I gave myself 48 hours to watch the game back and watch the clips back and gauge other opinions.

"I talk a huge amount to the players about respecting the football club and league and opponents and I'll be honest, I felt we didn't do that. I felt we won on Friday (at Cardiff) and we took our eye off the ball.

"I think the result on Friday gave us a false economy in terms of where we are, which for me is infuriating. And I do hope it's the kick between the legs that we need to reset us.

"I won't use excuses, the reality is we were miles off it and the players have been left under no illusions how disappointed I am.

"I spoke to a couple of the more senior lads in the dressing room (before addressing the group), but I was so clear in terms of the messages I wanted to give them, it wouldn't really matter their opinion.

"I was so clear that the level of application was so unacceptable. I've never labelled that at this group, hopefully it's going to jolt us in a direction we want to go. Unfortunately it's happened on my watch and I'll always take full responsibility."

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Dodds also explained why he changed a winning team for the visit of Blackburn. The Black Cats were hugely impressive in their 2-0 victory at Cardiff, but the interim boss made two changes against Rovers, taking Chris Rigg and Abdoullah Ba out of the team.

He said: "I've been asked that a few times this week. Our running stats at Cardiff were the third highest that they've been all season, so they've put a huge amount of effort into that game.

"I just felt freshening up the wings is something we needed. If I'd won it would have looked like a good decision but obviously it was a terrible performance and so that's going to see those changes highlighted even more. Hindsight can be a wonderful thing, and obviously there are going to be some changes for Saturday."

Dodds revealed Corry Evans has suffered a very minor setback in his recovery from injury, so the midfielder won't be available to make his first team return against Bristol City. But Aji Alese is in contention after coming through 90 minutes for the Under-21s in the midweek win over Huddersfield.

He said: "Corry had a little bit of a reaction in training, nothing major - so he's back in part-training now but he won't be available this weekend. He'll be back fully training with the squad next weekend, we obviously want to get him back as quickly as we can.

"Aji played 90 minutes during the week for the U21s which was really important for him, psychologically more than anything. That was his first 90 minutes for a very, very long time which puts him in contention for the weekend."