Source: Eurosport
Sbragia: Strikers must adapt
Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia has urged strikers Kenwyne Jones and Djibril Cisse to adapt to shake off the shackles placed on them by opposition teams.
The two frontmen have been tamed in recent weeks and have scored just once each in the club's last 11 games after being given special attention by defenders.
A debate over whether or not Jones and Cisse can play together is ongoing on Wearside, but Sbragia, who started with the Frenchman on the bench as he opted for a 4-5-1 formation at Bolton on Saturday, believes their problems have been compounded by the efforts of opponents to stop them playing.
He said: "What's happened, teams are closing down the width of the game. There's not a lot of space behind them, so they are finding it difficult to go behind, especially Djibril.
"He has to adapt his game a little bit more and he is finding that difficult. One of Djibril's major strengths is going forward. If you were playing against him, you would want him to be coming towards the ball.
"As a pair, they can probably get a little bit closer. Kenwyne did really well last year and when he came back from the injury, he was excellent. But he has not repeated that performance enough. It's a case of just persevering with them and getting on with it. You hope all the good things they did early-season will start coming back again."
