Ryan looks to relish new role in JFH’S reshaped Brewers
NEW BOYS DO WELL BUT HASSELBAINK PICKS OUT EDWARDS FOR SPECIAL PRAISE IN HULL VICTORY
GOOD as the new signings were for Burton Albion on Saturday, it was a player he inherited who drew the most praise from manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Australian midfielder Ryan Edwards took on a new role as one of two defensive midfielders, alongside Sean Clare, and turned in a typically tireless display.
Edwards’ relentless energy is the feature of his game in whichever role he operates and there have been one or two.
He has played off the striker, been deployed on the right and, more usually, as a box-to-box central midfielder, the role which brought him seven goals in an impressive first season with the Brewers.
A knee injury sustained in the first pre-season friendly this season stalled Edwards’ start to this campaign.
The team was struggling by the time he came back and he did not make an impact, although his energy levels were as good as ever.
When Hasselbaink signed Terry Taylor on transfer deadline day he referred to the young player as “a Robbie Weir type”, a reference to the midfield stalwart from his first spell with the club, but, on Saturday, that was who Edwards resembled.
He buzzed around, snapping at Hull’s attackers and the fact that Hull did not have a shot on target and were restricted almost entirely to speculative shots from distance had a lot to do with the efficiency with which Edwards and Clare protected the back four.
Edwards had to be careful, too, because a challenge on Greg Docherty in the 26th minute earned him a booking and another in the
second half got him a “last warning” lecture from referee Sam Allison.
Soon after, Hasselbaink replaced him with Taylor.
When the talk turned to individual performances in Hasselbaink’s postmatch interview and, inevitably, the new names were bandied about, the manager said: “You’ve missed one. Our best man of the day was Ryan Edwards for the amount of work that he did.
“I would never have substituted him if he had not had a yellow card.
“The opposition bench were screaming for him to get another yellow card. We couldn’t afford that and it’s why I had to take him off.
“The amount of work Ryan did was absolutely amazing. I gave him a different role because we needed two centre midfielders behind the ball to protect our back.
“Hull’s wide players are allowed to stay high but it was a problem we resolved really well.”
Whether or not Edwards now has this new role for keeps remains to be seen but it was heartening to see one of the Brewers’ shining lights from last season so thoroughly involved again.