‘Use our heads to ease team’s set-piece woes’

LEICESTER City’s set-piece woes have been caused by a lack of willpower as much as a lack of organisation, manager Brendan Rodgers has said.

City conceded from an injury-time corner on Sunday to miss out on victory over West Ham, Craig Dawson bundling the ball home.

Of the 41 goals City have conceded in the Premier League this season, 16 have been, at least in part, because of poor set-piece defending.

Rodgers switched from a set-up that was predominantly zonal marking to a system that focused on man-to-man marking in December, but it has not changed the club’s fortunes.

However, Rodgers feels City have also suffered because of a lack of desire from players to get their heads on the ball.

“Defending corners is about organisation, but it’s primarily about wanting to put your head on it, that’s the reality of defending,” he said after the 2-2 draw with West Ham.

“You can go zonal, you can block, you can go man-to-man.

“In defending a corner, you have to have that will to head it. If not, you’ll suffer, and that’s unfortunately what has happened to us too often this season.

“It’s something we’ll keep talking on, we’ll keep looking at, we’ll keep analysing. We’ll get out of the rut that it is, and the anxiety that has built up around it.

“We have shown over enough games that we can defend them well. That was deflating to concede from a set-piece, when we were set up with good numbers and good height to deal with it.”

Rodgers introduced Jannik Vestergaard for the final few moments of the game, but the big Dane could not deal with the injurytime corner.