A solid and controlled performance led to back-to-back wins for the first time in a long time.
A couple of things I noticed from today’s game.
I’ve noticed a marked improvement in our corner taking routines in the past few weeks and that’s been highlighted by the fact that Damian Stewart has bagged several goals as a result. It’s really pleasing to see us being a threat going forward from these set-pieces and Stewpeas deserves all the praise because he’s also been playing better at the back too.
It was interesting also to note that from every defensive corner we kept everybody back. At no point did we leave anybody forward and I presume that’s to combat our weaknesses defending the initial delivery and second ball. The problem as always however is when we do clear our lines, it’s coming straight back in. Leicester though were unable to capitlise on any of those chances.
In the early part of the game I was also impressed by Rowan Vine’s defensive work. He tracked back really well and made a couple of decent defensive headers to clear danger as well as intelligent interceptions. It wasn’t his best game going forward but he still showed touches of class and played a big part in a couple of our goals. I really hope we sign him permanently because I think he’s got a great football brain and has shown the enthusiasm and dynamism to operate in a variety of different roles.
I also noticed a trend for when Lee Camp took goal-kicks. Often he switched to taking his kick to the other side of his six-yard box which created acres of space for Vine on the left. Despite this however, we rarely got Vine on the ball in those situations and once or twice he got frustrated with Camp for not kicking to him. In the second-half, I noticed we were also doing this a little with Gareth Ainsworth, so I presume it’s something Luigi De Canio has been working on with the players.
Adam Bolder was also getting forward a lot in the first-half, more than I expected him to. He popped up in the box and had a drive blocked before he eventually scored from a header from a well worked counter attack. I’m really pleased for Bolds, he’s had a bit of stop-start season in terms of his form, but his performances are gradually improving.
Other than that I was really pleased Dexter Blackstock scored and put in a good performance. It was a big moment in that young man’s season. In recent games he’s played a key role in a lot of the goals he’s scored so it was about time someone created something for him too.
Akos Buzsaky also had another good game. He’s growing all the time and showed some sublime touches and great technique. I think he’ll still have the odd game here and there where it just doesn’t happen for him, but he can do some serious damage if we’re able to get defensive players around him that will allow him to express himself more at the top end of the pitch. He’s a real big player for us at the moment and you sense he’s enjoying his football and it’s showing.
Overall it was really nice to see us playing good, controlled and attacking football at home, despite utilising a 4-5-1 formation. It suited us on the day against a very bland Leicester team which looked devoid of just about everything. Our only disappointment was our inability to deal with the Foxes new £1.5million signing Steve Howard. He won practically every header from every ball pumped towards him, although thankfully he didn’t really control his passes or efforts well enough to cause any real danger.
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