Source: FOOTYMAD
Trick Is To Break Down Defences
Football is about attack and defence and if a side just wants to 'park the bus', the other side has to find a way to get past it. Motherwell striker John Sutton spent Saturday unsuccessfully trying to break down Aberdeen's five-man defence but insists he will be in for a similar shift in Tuesday night's Co-operative Insurance Cup tie at Brechin. Dons boss Mark McGhee unashamedly fielded five centre-halves in his line-up for the trip to his former club and left with a point after Scott Vernon's second-half goal cancelled out Jamie Murphy's opener scored just before the break. Sutton, though, found it tough going and was replaced by Ross Forbes as Well boss Craig Brown introduced his three substitutes in an attempt to find the winner. Asked if he believed the third-round game against the Second Division side, who lost their unbeaten run to league leaders Livingston on Saturday, would provide a better chance for him to get among the goals, the former St Mirren striker said: "Not really. As long as we get through, that's the main thing. It's a tricky away game. They have got some good players, I know some of the young boys up there who were at St Mirren. They are good players and I'm sure they will be up for it and hungry for the result. There have been many times in the past when you have seen upsets and I think Brechin have caused a few of those upsets so we are going to have to play well to get a result." Sutton, like his manager, had no problems with the overtly defensive mindset of McGhee, who claimed he had been inspired by Walter Smith's tactics in getting a goalless draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Champions League last Tuesday night. He said: "They were probably a bit defensive but it's up to us to break them down. If they play with a lot of defenders it does mean that it gets a bit tighter back there. However, it also means that you get a bit more possession but we weren't good enough to play through them, we just didn't play very well. When you go ahead in the SPL you normally have a pretty good chance of winning. But you know Mark McGhee's sides are always going to attack you at some stage, you know they are always going to be a threat going forward. If we had played better we might have played through them and got shots in and it might have been a different story. But we didn't. So it was disappointing but we can't feel too hard done by." Jamie Langfield returned to the Aberdeen goal after recovering from a freak foot injury sustained when a kettle of boiling water fell on his foot on the team bus travelling to a pre-season tour of England. The former Dundee keeper was happy to be protected by five centre backs. He said: "It is called putting a lock on the door. And to be fair I don't think Motherwell created too much and it was a slip that led to their goal. We more than merited a point with our second-half display and it was good to get back in to the side." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba.net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
