Rovers Dean Shiels - I need to improve my defensive side

12 November 2010 13:14
It has been a bit of a roller-coaster season to date for Doncaster Rovers star Dean Shiels "It's certainly been a bit up and down," he said this week. "I was in the team, then I was out , then I was back in and out again and I'm back in again."The gaffer has said that when I've come in I've done well. I've just got to work on a few things and try and make sure that I start more games."I need to work on the defensive side of my game and be more aware of where I need to be when we lose the ball."Fortunately for the Northern Ireland international, whenever he has failed to make the starting line-up he has found himself on the bench."It's hard to come on and get up to the pace of a game straight away after being sat on the bench for an hour or so," he said. "Although we always do a bit of a warm-up during games, there's nothing that you can really do to prepare yourself."Obviously when you come on you want to impress the manager and help the team but often what you do when you come on for the last 10 to 15 minutes is dictated by circumstances. It can be a case of helping to defend a lead or trying to help the team score a goal."I've been happy with my form and I keep trying to score which helps the team."Obviously different areas of the pitch dictate what you do when you get the ball, but in and around the box I am always looking to get a shot off."Shiels showed just what a clinical finisher he can be when scoring a superb goal in the home game against Derby."I scored a similar goal in the pre-season game against West Bromwich in pre-season," he said."It's something that I work on every day in training.""I just want to start more games and hopefully I'll be in the team for tomorrow's game at Fratton Park. I've never played there so I'm looking forward to it."They got off to a poor start and obviously there will have been uncertainty about the future in view of their much-publicised financial problems."But the club's problems seem to have had a positive effect and the players seem to have gathered themselves together and as a group of lads they deserve credit for that

Source: FOOTYMAD