Lambert: A Little Tweak Here and There But Nothing Major Friday, 26th Feb 2021 13:21 Manager Paul Lambert’s back four have kept three clean sheets in a row following a change of personnel for the last two matches and what he says has been a “tweak” of the approach to be a little more direct. The Town defence has been among the more solid in League One throughout the season having conceded 27 goals, an average of 0.93 a game, with only four sides having shipped fewer. They have kept a total of 13 league clean sheets, three in the last three games as they have drawn 0-0 with Northampton and Oxford and won 1-0 at Hull City with Lambert having reverted to central defensive pairing James Wilson and Toto Nsiala following their return from injury for the U's and Tigers games with skipper Luke Chambers at right-back and Myles Kenlock on the left. “If you can get a cornerstone of your team that's strong it gives you a chance to win games,” Lambert said when asked about the importance of clean sheets. “The back lads have been great, the midfield lads have been great, offensively the front two's work is the catalyst for the defending, it comes from the front two guys, your nine and your 10, whatever you want to call them. “The defence has been strong recently with three back-to-back clean sheets, so the signs are good.”  The last few games have seen less of the passing it around at the back which has been criticised as ponderous and pedestrian with the Blues looking to get the ball forward to striker James Norwood in particular more quickly. Asked whether that has been a conscious thing, Lambert said: “James and Toto are just back from long-term injuries so we had to manage them through certain things really, with their games as well, so there has been a little tweak here and there but nothing major. “We still try and play the same football, still try and play the same stuff with them. At this moment, there are little shoots of what we can do. Tuesday night was a decent performance, and we’ll try to build on it.” It’s perhaps no coincidence that Town have kept back-to-back clean sheets following the return of Wilson and Nsiala, who were the centre-halves as the Blues started the season positively, hitting the top of the table via five wins and a draw.  Wilson suffered a knee injury which required surgery and saw him absent from late October until last Saturday. “We missed him when he was out for that three months with his knee injury,” Lambert said. “Willo’s very athletic at the back, he gives you that athleticism, he can cover the ground and he and Toto seem to have a good understanding. “James coming back in after his lengthy knee problem has been great. And Toto, you know exactly what you’re going to get with Toto. Those two have performed well.” Asked whether Luke Woolfenden and Mark McGuinness, previous incumbents at the heart of the defence, accepted the decision to leave them out, Lambert said: “They’ve no other option but to accept it. That’s football. These sort of things are great for young players because they bounce back from it. “You’re never going to have a career where everything’s going to go your way, you’re going to have to go through some hard moments and some hard times, and that’ll make you stronger for it. “This rest won’t do them any harm whatsoever, they’ve played a lot of games in succession. I just felt it was right to bring James and Toto back for the Oxford game, those two lads have been out injured for a long time. “It was getting to the moment where I thought they were ready to go in. But Woolfy and Mark have got good careers in front of them, there’s no doubt about that.” On-loan Wolves right-back Luke Matheson, 18, has also found himself on the bench for the last two matches. “That’s football, and as I said about Woolfy and Mark, you have moments where your career will go up and do down,” Lambert added. “It’s getting that consistency. “He’s only a baby, he’s only a kid. He’s still doing his A-levels, that’s how young he is. He’ll have a big future in the game. “What we are giving him is experience of being with the first team, you see that little fluctuation with some games, which is great for him. He’s one that I think will have a good future in the game.”  Regarding left-back Kenlock, who personally has kept clean sheets in his last four matches and also picked up two assists in that time, Lambert says the 24-year-old is making the most of his opportunity. “As I said before, when we first came in in the Championship, Jonas [Knudsen] was the main left-back here and Myles got in at Middlesbrough that day and then played 17 games back-to-back,” he recalled. “If you look at Myles over the years, he’s never really cemented a place down to be his own. Now he’s starting to play really, really well and hopefully he can keep that going. “It’s all about consistency, if he can keep that going. But at this moment, he is playing extremely well.”
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