Chris Powell will insist his players don’t give away “cheap fouls” as he looks for a defensively tight performance against Nottingham Forest.
The Town boss has been disappointed to concede four of the last five goals from set pieces and, for the fifth of those, not to react properly to the second phase of possession for the second goal let in during the 2-2 draw at Ipswich last Saturday.
“I have spoken to the lads about it and we don’t need to push it because they know, all we need to do is just tighten one or two areas and we will be fine,” said Powell.
“For me, we need to work even harder at stopping set pieces at source, but we are also looking to enhance our attacking set plays as well.
“It’s a big story at the moment about players pulling and tugging at opposition shirts in the box and we got a penalty last week when Grant Holt was brought down. It was a foul and it was a penalty.
“It’s about time we got a decision like that and people say it’s quite brave of a referee to give it. They say that if one of those decisions is going to get given, then all of them should be and I agree – all of them should be punished.”
So what does Powell want of the Town defence when they come under pressure?
“I want them to stand their ground, be brave and do their best to win the header,” he answered.
“I want them to be as strong as they can and make the right decisions.
“I detest it myself when someone gives away a cheap foul by pulling a shirt. It shouldn’t happen.
“I like us to have detailed men covering the opposition dangers. I like us to cover the posts and the front area and go from there.
“Teams like to be clever, of course, and change their set plays, so it’s always an ongoing process to defend them, but we just have to be strong and maintain our concentration levels.”
Only Murray Wallace – who has signed a two-year contract extension – has been sent-off for Town this season while Joel Lynch goes into the Nottingham Forest match on four yellow cards.
