Appleton wants Albion to get mean
Thursday 28th July 2011, 8:45AM BST.
Assistant boss Michael Appleton has warned Albion they must become meaner after more defensive problems denied them a friendly victory at Southampton.
A second-string Baggies side again conceded two goals from free headers, as the League One Saints twice cancelled out goals from Simon Cox in the second-half.
And Appleton admitted Albion must improve their defending after conceding at least twice in each of their first five friendlies.
He said: “The disappointing thing is that if you allow that many crosses and free-kicks around the edge of the box you are going to pay for it, and we did.
“I can’t remember how many crosses we let in and it’s something we need to work on, because we can’t keep conceding two goals and expecting to get something out of games.”
The Baggies fielded a more experienced line-up than the one that crashed 3-0 at Rochdale on Tuesday but they still deployed effectively a reserve side.
Jonas Olsson, Nicky Shorey, Chris Brunt, Youssouf Mulumbu, Paul Scharner, James Morrison, Jerome Thomas and Peter Odemwingie were all held back for Saturday’s trip to Bristol City.
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