MIKE Dodds has set Jobe Bellingham the goal target of hitting double figures next season - regardless of which position he ends up playing for Sunderland.
Despite only turning 18 back in September, Bellingham has started 41 and featured in 43 of Sunderland's 44 Championship games in his first campaign on Wearside.
And the teenager has shown his versatility, having been used as a midfielder, a No.10 and a striker over the course of the season.
Interim head coach Dodds believes Bellingham would benefit from making one position his own next term, but whether it's as a midfielder or a striker, he's backee the former Birmingham City youngster to build on the seven goals he's scored this season.
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“I think he can get double figures next year, regardless of what position he plays," says Dodds, who will this week attempt to lift his players after the disappointing Millwall defeat ahead of the final two games of the season.
"That will be an easy target for him. he’ll be 18 going-on 19, that would be a huge achievement as a first-year pro.
“He’s scored seven goals which for a second-year scholar is unbelievable. I always reference the point he should be playing youth team football and when you use that as the marker, you realise how talented he is. I think he’s had a really successful year."
For all Dodds believes Bellingham's versatility is a mark of his talent, he thinks the youngster could do with nailing down one specific role and an "identity" moving forward.
He said: "I mean, is he a No. 9 for Sunderland? I think he has all the attribute. Or a No.10, a No.8?
"In twelve months’ time there'll hopefully be a little bit more clarity for him, the fans and everyone at the football club.
“I would like positionally for him to have been more consistent but for him to have been utilised in so many positions at this level at such a young age is a huge marker for what his future potentially has for him.
"Ultimately if he has the support of the fanbase, which I’m sure he will have, he’ll be a happy boy."
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