Liverpool defender, Martin Skrtel, is mentally prepared to take on the physical Stoke City players in a league match on Wednesday.
The Reds will lock horns with Tony Pulis’ men at the Britannia Stadium who have thus far shipped just 13 goals in the competition this season. During this period, they have kept 9 clean sheets – more than any other team.
The Potters have, time and again, been criticized for their over physical approach. A couple of weeks ago, Everton’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ryan-Shawcross-c31996, who committed myriad harsh challenges against the Belgian ace. The forward eventually
ended up headbutting the Potters defender, and consequently, earning himself a three-match ban.
Everton’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sylvain-Distin-c34430 had later dubbed the fixture as wrestling match.
Although the Reds will be expecting much of the same reception from Stoke on Wednesday, Skrtel revealed that he was mentally prepared for a physical battle.
The Slovakian International observed that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tony-c35440 Pulis’ unit were guilty of defending rashly at times, but had, nonetheless, implemented their plan to perfection.
Earlier in the season, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 played out a goalless stalemate with Stoke at Anfield.
“The game against Stoke is not about the football, it is about the fight and the tackles,” he told the reporters in an interview.
“The fighting in the box at throws, corners and free-kicks was always part of the game but it can be too much. What they do is sometimes too much but they are doing well this season, keeping clean sheets.”
The 28-year old played an important hand in the Reds 4-0 victory over Fulham last week. Apart from carrying out his defensive duties resolutely, he belted a powerful volley to open his side’s scoring. It was his ninth goal for the Merseyside club.
Speaking of his scalp on Saturday, the defender claimed that it was the best goal that he had ever scored. However, he also spared some time to commend the efforts of the entire team, pointing out that everyone played their part well.
“I think it was a great performance from everyone against Fulham and we did well: we scored four goals and that showed our quality,” he added.
Tags: