Joey Barton has made defending corners a priority for Bristol Rovers in training this week ahead of Saturday's League One trip to MK Dons.
Rovers were stung, not for the first time this campaign, from a dead-ball situation in the 2-2 draw with Morecambe last time out, failing to shut down the Shrimps' short corner routine that led to Jensen Weir's brilliant strike. The Gas have also conceded from set plays against Shrewsbury, Portsmouth and Forest Green Rovers from corners in their seven League One games this season.
Not all are coming from the same route; some have been from direct balls into the box and others have stemmed from the second or third phase, but Barton has seen enough to know that Rovers cannot keep shipping goals from set-pieces at this rate.
Indeed, Rovers have the league's poorest record when it comes to defending set-pieces so far this season, according to WhoScored, conceding five goals, two more than any other team.
"We’ve conceded a lot of goals from corners this year, whether it’s first or second phase of corner," Barton said. "We spoke to the lads about that on Monday about the attitude and intention. The longer you’re in this game, you realise your intention is pretty much most of your performance.
"If you really want to go out and block a shot or get your head on a great ball that is whipped in, that is a lot of the basis of whether you’re going to be successful or not.
"For us, we’re disappointed. We feel like we’ve defended lots of corners and direct play really well, but it doesn’t matter if you get one of them wrong in a game and we’ve been punished for that. We think we can definitely tidy it up. We’ve conceded from a corner against Forest Green, Oxford hit the post on one, Barnsley scored from a long-distance shot from a corner, and Portsmouth scored from a corner. We had a helluva strike from young Jensen Weir the other day, but again it’s from a short corner.
"For us, we look at that as an area we can certainly improve and get better. Our attitude and intention towards that are key."
Rovers are 16th in the standings with eight points from their seven games, which represents a respectable total for a team that has retained some key players but is rebuilding after the departures of the likes of Elliot Anderson, Connor Taylor – whose departure has undoubtedly impacted Rovers' set-piece ability on both sides of the ball – and Luke Thomas.
Barton has insisted Rovers will gradually improve as the season goes on and he says they are setting new standards on the training pitches at The Quarters.
"It’s the best week of training we’ve had since we’ve been back," Barton added. "We’re in the process of building another group and another team and there has to be an element of patience with that.
"We’re disappointed we’ve not beaten two League One sides at home and they are the kind of standards we are setting now across the board. We’ve got to keep nudging that every single day and be prepared to pay our dues.
"The rent is always due. Look at Liverpool, arguably the best team in Europe last season, going for a quadruple and you see last night they are a fraction out at the minute and relative to the level they are playing at, it can cause a lot of problems.
"We don’t feel like we’ve been firing on all cylinders. We had a good week last week, but I think this week has been better again. They are good signs when the training performances are moving in those directions. It’s not long before we start to see that on the matchday.
"We go into two tough fixtures, but I’m hoping that iron sharpens iron with the fact we’re playing two really good sides away from home. We’ll have a big atmosphere at Portman Road and it will be slightly different at Stadium MK, but two good stadiums, two good surfaces and two good teams and we’re hoping it can bring the best out in our boys."
MK Dons are Rovers' next assignment, with league-leading Ipswich Town following on Tuesday. MK represent a drastically different challenge to the more defensive sides that the Gas have taken on in the past fortnight in Shrewsbury and Morecambe.
In those games, Rovers have been challenged with breaking down a deep defence, but Liam Manning's Dons are sure to be much more open and expansive, potentially playing to Rovers' strengths as a pressing side.
"They’re a good side," Barton said. "They lost a couple of players but they kept the manager and there is a bit of continuity there with the style of play, 3-4-3 building out from the back.
"It will be interesting for us. We’ve been working today on coordinating a press and how we’re going to disrupt them and get into them, which is rare because we’re the most pressed team in the division statistically.
"The hunter is turning hunted a little bit on Saturday and we’re going to have to be really disciplined and get that collective press together because they are a good footballing side and they will cause you problems if one or two are out of sync."
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