Marc:We can punish any side if we keep our shape
DEFENDER Marc Roberts reckons Blues have the weapons to harm any team – provided the players retain positional discipline. Garry Monk’s side go into this week’s double-header against Las Palmas and Brighton on the back of a quickfire pair of victories last weekend.
A strong side, close to Monk’s best available 11, saw off League One Doncaster Rovers at Solihull’s Autotech Stadium on Friday night.
A more youthful group then comfortably accounted for League Two outfit Cheltenham Town on Saturday.
Roberts was among the senior players that got a run-out at Whaddon Road, where Blues’ young guns really came to the fore.
Academy graduates Charlie Lakin and Beryly Lubala, who both broke into the first-team last season, set Blues off to a win capped by a late Cheikh Ndoye penalty.
Viv Solomon-Otabor, another product of the youth setup, was lively throughout as Monk’s men tore through the Robins with a series of devastating breaks.
“When we work to the shape the gaffer wants and we do it right, we’ve got players like Viv and Bez that can add the power and the pace on the counter,” Roberts said.
“They can get in behind and that causes teams problems, no matter who you’re playing.
“We caused them problems and that comes from us being disciplined in what we’re trying to achieve as a team.”
The Cheltenham match was Connal Trueman’s second in just 18 hours, with the rookie goalkeeper having lined up against Doncaster.
And it was the team’s fourth in a pre-season schedule that will draw to a close when the Seagulls visit the St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium on Saturday.
The initial focus on fitness has now shifted more shape work and patterns of play.
And Roberts, who faces stiff competition from Michael Morrison, Harlee Dean and returning loanee Dan Scarr for a place in the back four, believes the signs are encouraging.
“I said to them before we started (at Cheltenham) they’re all good players technically,” he said. “Tactically they just have to get to what the gaffer wants – the responsibility on the pitch. Learn that side of things and that was a big focus for us on Saturday.
“To a man, everyone was great and stuck to their jobs. Our shape was great for 99 per cent of the game. That won us the game in the end.
“It was a great work-out, not just for me, but for the young lads to get the experience within what the gaffer wants.” to