Steve Kean believes Junior Hoilett and Yakubu can trouble any backline after they combined to hand Blackburn a crucial win over Sunderland.
Kean feels pairing of Hoilett and Yakubu has been a success
Steve Kean believes Blackburn's strike partnership of Junior Hoilett and Yakubu can trouble any backline after they combined to hand Rovers a crucial win over Sunderland.
Hoilett netted Rovers' opener from a weak Simon Mignolet clearance before Yakubu headed home Jason Lowe's cross to seal a 2-0 victory, which lifts Kean's men six points clear of the Premier League drop zone.
The triumph marked Blackburn's second successive win and clean sheet and the manager was naturally delighted with the result, singling his two strikers out for special praise.
He told
Sky Sports: "To get back-to-back wins and back-to-back clean sheets I think, at this time of the season, is very important.
"We've kept our momentum going, I thought we played very well tonight.
"We put that partnership together in the Wolves game and I think it paid dividends. I think what you're seeing now is Junior Hoilett probably playing in a position that he prefers but such as the ability he's got, sometimes we need him wide as well.
"We've got Marcus Olsson and Mauro Formica in the wide areas and we've got Junior and Yak proving a difficult partnership for any centre-backs to deal with.
"I think overall we're getting at teams a little bit more with that twin-striker combination."
Tightened up
Kean feels his side have tightened up in order to stop leaking goals and believes it has been crucial to their recent turnaround, which has seen them lose just once in five games.
"What I would say is that we've always been scoring goals but we've always said it's about the clean sheets as well," he added.
"For us to get back-to-back clean sheets - that's the lads getting the dividends of working hard every day and trying to close the back door, trying to be a little bit more controlled when we are attacking.
"I think great credit goes to Steven N'Zonzi and Morten Pedersen for the discipline which they show in midfield when we are on the attack.
"At times it has been difficult for our back four and Paul Robinson because there's been so many waves of attack and I think we're really improving on it."
