Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Foxton View Post
Hi Paul,I would agree with you about Collins and N.I's threat from set pieces.I was at the game in March,and their goal came from corner as a result of us not clearing our lines.Vokes started that game,and as I recall was largely ineffectual,with N.I happy to let us play in front of them and defend the 18 yard box.We looked better when Allen came on,and obviously we had no Bale and Ramsey that night.It is going to be difficult to break them down,but you would have to back us in this one,and as you say we might need to drag them about and be patient.
Your memory of the game in March matches mine Bruce. Northern Ireland were slightly the better team until Joe Allen came on and then we started causing them problems. If Ramsey and Bale play like they did on Monday, then we'll have a quality that they won't be able to match, but you couldn't have hand picked a better defence/midfield for the latter to face than Russia and our opponents on Saturday won't be as naive as they were in our previous game.

If it was my choice to make, I'd, just about, go for the same defence and hope that we'll cope with their set pieces, but I'd be tempted to make a change up front. I think Jonny Williams could be effective against a side like Northern Ireland, but that would probably mean we'd have to use Bale in a similar role to the one he played against Slovakia and I'd much prefer him to be running at defenders from deeper positions, so I think I'd bring in Robson-Kanu for Vokes.