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Birmingham City boss Lee Clark has challenged his side to find a ruthless touch if they want to spoil Neil Lennon’s party.
The Blues have struggled at St Andrew’s since the start of last season, chalking up just three wins in 28 attempts in front of their own fans.
Part of the problem, concedes the former Newcastle United and Fulham midfielder, is his side’s inability to convert chances into goals.
Clark has praised the Blues’ defensive efforts in recent outings, and they head into tomorrow’s clash on the back of successive wins, but he sees room for improvement in attack, where Wes Thomas remains the club’s top scorer on three goals from his first 10 appearances in the Championship.
Now the Geordie – the division’s second longest-serving boss – is instructing his players to “know their role” in his team.
“Certainly, there were a couple of home games before that (the Millwall victory) when we didn’t put our chances away and it came back to bite us,” he said.
“Ultimately, there has got to be responsibility on the players to finish these chances off as well.
“I am not going to be there criticising them for missing chances. You want them to keep getting into good positions, to keep trying and taking shots.
“But if your responsibility is to score goals and you are a striker, when you get good chances it’s your job to put them in.
“And it’s the same with other positions. In the wide areas, I encourage my players to attack people and be exciting, get crosses in and create chances for other people and for themselves to score goals.”
“If you want the team to do that, I want you to do that... like young Koby Arthur is doing, like young Demarai Gray is doing, David Cotterill has done all season. If that’s your job, do that.”
Clark added: “If you are in the team to win headers and tackles, like Paul Robinson, David Edgar, Jonathan Grounds, Grant Hall, Will Packwood, Paul Caddis – if he is at right-back – Jonathan Spector, then that’s what I expect you to do.
“Ultimately that’s your role in the team and when we stick to those things, stay with the game-plan and carry on doing what is making us look a good, competitive side throughout the whole game, then we give ourselves every chance to get results.”
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The Blues have struggled at St Andrew’s since the start of last season, chalking up just three wins in 28 attempts in front of their own fans.
Part of the problem, concedes the former Newcastle United and Fulham midfielder, is his side’s inability to convert chances into goals.
Clark has praised the Blues’ defensive efforts in recent outings, and they head into tomorrow’s clash on the back of successive wins, but he sees room for improvement in attack, where Wes Thomas remains the club’s top scorer on three goals from his first 10 appearances in the Championship.
Now the Geordie – the division’s second longest-serving boss – is instructing his players to “know their role” in his team.
“Certainly, there were a couple of home games before that (the Millwall victory) when we didn’t put our chances away and it came back to bite us,” he said.
“Ultimately, there has got to be responsibility on the players to finish these chances off as well.
“I am not going to be there criticising them for missing chances. You want them to keep getting into good positions, to keep trying and taking shots.
“But if your responsibility is to score goals and you are a striker, when you get good chances it’s your job to put them in.
“And it’s the same with other positions. In the wide areas, I encourage my players to attack people and be exciting, get crosses in and create chances for other people and for themselves to score goals.”
“If you want the team to do that, I want you to do that... like young Koby Arthur is doing, like young Demarai Gray is doing, David Cotterill has done all season. If that’s your job, do that.”
Clark added: “If you are in the team to win headers and tackles, like Paul Robinson, David Edgar, Jonathan Grounds, Grant Hall, Will Packwood, Paul Caddis – if he is at right-back – Jonathan Spector, then that’s what I expect you to do.
“Ultimately that’s your role in the team and when we stick to those things, stay with the game-plan and carry on doing what is making us look a good, competitive side throughout the whole game, then we give ourselves every chance to get results.”
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