Three games, three wins, three strikes from set pieces. Michael Rose and Luke McNally, with a goal each and a couple of clean sheets in the bag too, have been enjoying themselves since the international break at Stoke City.
A tactic of packing the six-yard box and having big lads attack an in-swinging delivery can be an unnerving experience for the opposition, as Asmir Begovic pointed out while on punditry duty watching Stoke last week, but it can be very effective and a lot of fun if you’re one of the big lads.
“Set pieces are huge in this league,” said Rose, who headed in the first in Stoke’s 2-0 win at Middlesbrough last weekend. “That one when you cram everyone in makes it so difficult for a goalkeeper and so difficult for defenders as well because if there’s even a slight touch you’re only a couple of yards away from the goal.
Just a little nick, like Wesley against Leeds, and it can be in the back of the net. Hopefully we can keep that going and try to get a few more.
“Luke got one against Sunderland, so I was thinking, ‘Right, I need to pull my finger out here and get off the mark’. It’s nice to score but also yeah, you know what our main job is. To get both a clean sheet and a goal in the same game is a perfect day for a defender.”
That combination, in a division when most matches are decided by such fine margins, is clearly a winning cocktail. Rose added: “Clean sheets can determine games and bring you a lot of points through a season. Every game in the Championship is so tight, there’s nothing really much in the teams so if you can pop up a set piece here and there and keep a clean sheet, you can get away with three points, as we have in the last week.
That combination, in a division when most matches are decided by such fine margins, is clearly a winning cocktail. Rose added: “Clean sheets can determine games and bring you a lot of points through a season. Every game in the Championship is so tight, there’s nothing really much in the teams so if you can pop up a set piece here and there and keep a clean sheet, you can get away with three points, as we have in the last week.
“I’m delighted, just buzzing for everyone in the club to be honest because it’s been a difficult start and everyone’s been putting a lot of work in, even during the international breaks and stuff, and sticking to what we know we can do. To get a nine-point week is huge and it sort of changes everything. I think we went from 20th up to 11th or something on the table.
“Everything’s looking good now, we’re in good spirits and I think it shows what we’re capable of doing. Hopefully we can just carry it on.”
“Definitely,” he said. “I think in some games we’ve performed well and maybe just little things haven’t dropped for us. In training every day, you can see the talent we’ve got within the squad so as long as we just stayed calm and kept working hard and doing the right things – obviously you never think you’re going to have a nine-point week. You want to do it all the time but you know what the Championship is like – but we always thought we would start picking up wins.
“Still, it gives us huge confidence. That’s three really good teams and we’ve only conceded one goal in those three games. It’s been really good and I think going forward now, it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing against, we know the threats that we’ve got and if we do what we know we can do, then we’ll be a match for anyone.”
“We actually didn’t start any games together at Coventry at all,” said Rose. “We were laughing about it the other day actually, the last few games is actually the first time we’ve actually played properly with each other. But we get on really well, we got on well at Coventry.
“Naturally when you come to a new club you’re closer with ones that you’ve known before so me and Luke have been like that. I think it helps if you have a connection off the pitch. I think that helps your relationship on the pitch too so it’s been good.
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