Having returned from the postponed match at Sheffield United, we caught up with Lee Clark as he ran the rule over the past week’s events.
Speaking about the Huddersfield match, Clark admitted that the team is now becoming used to playing against defensive systems.
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Clarkie thinks it's all in the passing. |
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“Teams are going to defend and try to catch you on the break, so they’ll put nine or ten players back and try to make it difficult for you.
“It’s up to us to find a way to try and break teams down. Once we do that and get an early goal it means they have to come out – which then means more space for us to exploit.
“It took a long time for the first goal to come against Huddersfield but when it did the holes started to appear and we exploited them towards the end.”
Playing against teams like Huddersfield the temptation is to start playing a more direct style of football. However, Clark believes that the patient approach pays dividends in the end, as he explained:
“You’ve got to stick to the passing game. We haven’t got the players in the side to change and play direct football – the manager wouldn’t want us to play like that anyway.
“If you’ve got players who are moving and passing the ball well it doesn’t matter what the opposition do. If you’ve got good movement you’ll always create chances.”
With other results in Division One going our way Clark acknowledged that other teams dropping points is only half of the job:
“Results went our way with Watford losing their first game and Birmingham losing at Norwich, but at the end of the day if we look after our own business and do that well we shouldn’t have to worry about any other teams.
He went on:
“It was a bit disappointing with our game being postponed. We’d gone up on the Monday, prepared in the hotel and trained in Sheffield. Once you’re there and you’ve travelled a long way you want to get the game played and get the three points.”
Looking ahead to the London derby against Wimbledon, Clark was taking nothing for granted:
“It’s going to be a tough match. They’ll be looking for revenge after we beat them 3-0 last season in the FA Cup.
“It’s going to be tough, any team that goes up against Wimbledon will find it tough. They’re at home, and they’ve got a new management team.
“I don’t know whether they’ve changed their style of play or not but, they’ve got quality players who are hitting a bit of form at the moment.”