Source: FOOTYMAD
Cameron the cool tames Yakubu
How a teenager neutralised Premiership striker When Coventry City made the short journey along the M69 last Saturday to take on near neighbours Leicester City, where the Sky Blues have yet to record a win at The Walkers Stadium, very few would have envied the task facing their 19 year old defender Nathan Cameron who had the job of marking on loam Everton striker Yakubu. No one would claim that Cameron had a faultless game, but his calmness and professionalism helped him to keep Yakubu quiet for nearly all of the game. Cameron, who has worked his way through the City Academy, has earned a place in Aidy Boothroyd's team and his manager has a firm belief in the young defender, but it also helps that Cameron himself has a strong belief in his own abilities. He was not in any way overawed by the reputation of his far more experienced opponent and revealed he was in not at all fazed at the job he was tasked to do. The striker he had to tame, Yakubu, has scored 86 goals in his 200+ Premier League games. He has played for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Everton and has cost his various clubs around £23m in transfer fees. A tall order for a 19 year old lad with just 15 starts before the Leicester game. “I can see why it would seem like a very intimidating experience to anyone else but I just tried to take it in my stride,” said Cameron. “He’s obviously played a lot Premier League games and probably still is Premiership class but I tried to do a job and hopefully I did that." “We did a bit of work on him in training last week because, to be fair, he’s probably Leicester's best player and we knew we had to shut him down quite early, because he is strong and quick and likes to get his shots off and he did that, but I think we did just enough to keep him quiet." “He has got great awareness and movement around the box and that's what the gaffer tried to focus on as well as his physical attributes." "Steve Harrison does a lot of work with the defenders as well and we worked on cutting out the crosses because that's what he feeds on. We tried to do that and it seemed to work." “He’s a strong player and hasn't played at the top level for no reason, but I just enjoyed the challenge.” Cameron was asked if marking Yakubu was the toughest job he had been asked to do so far in his fledgling career, he said, “I wouldn't say so. I have had some tough games but I feel now that I have played quite a few in the first team that I am getting used to the pace of the Championship." “So I probably had tougher games earlier on in the season when I wasn't that used to the league and I was a bit edgy, but it was still a tough test on Saturday and I thought I did all right." “It was a big day for me to be honest, being my first M69 derby and a great occasion to be involved in and I enjoyed it and thought it went well.” Cameron revealed that after the game he wanted to swap shirts with Yakubu, but that his team mate Baker had got in first. He said, “Carl Baker nabbed it so I asked Sol Bamba for his instead." "He’s a good player who has done well for them and scored on his début against Man City, and he’s a good Championship defender who we also defended well against on the day.” Cameron analysed the game, which ended in a 1-1 draw saying, “I thought we controlled the game in the first half and probably had the better chances." "We were disappointed to concede the goal just before half time because if we had got to the break I think it would have been difficult for them to get back into the game." “Kyle Naughton drifted in from the right and it was a good shot to be fair, right in the top corner, and maybe we should have closed him down earlier, but I thought we were resolute in the second half and had a couple of chances from corners but then stood firm when we went down to ten men, so it was a good point against a good side."
