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Free-kicks cost us - Keane
Sunderland, 13:39, September 29, 2008 ,
Roy Keane has called on his Sunderland players to stop giving away free-kicks in dangerous positions following the defeat to Villa.
Sunderland took the lead at Villa Park on Saturday thanks to Djibril Cisse, but the home side hit back to take all three points thanks to goals from Ashley Young and John Carew.
Both goals game from set pieces and Keane says the players have to cut out the errors.
"How do you cut out free-kicks? It is very hard when you are up against good players who are moving the ball quickly and running at you at pace," Keane revealed. "Just one mistimed tackle and you suffer.
"But against Villa that wasn't the case. If you look through a lot of Premier League teams, a lot of midfield players are constantly giving away free-kicks and you end up getting punished for that.
"We have just have to make sure the players learn from it or you get the right players in who are disciplined in terms of not giving free-kicks away -particularly against teams who are very strong at set-pieces."