Samba: Winterburn is working his magic at Blackburn Rovers

10:50am Saturday 25th October 2008

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By Gary York »

CHRIS Samba insists defensive coach Nigel Winterburn is beginning to stamp his authority on the Blackburn Rovers back four.

The giant Congo international was in the heart of a once-porous Rovers defence that shipped far too many goals at the start of the Premier League campaign.

Blackburn conceded two goals in the opening day victory at Everton, and things got worse, as both West Ham and Arsenal plundered four goals each in back-to-back games.

The early warning signs were evident in pre-season too, as Championship outfit Wolves also netted four in a pre-season fixture at Molineux.

However, Paul Ince’s men have sharpened up their act at the back, keeping three clean sheets in their last five matches, conceding just three in that period.

And Samba believes former Arsenal ace Winterburn – who was appointed in the role this summer – must take a fair amount of credit for restoring a steely back four at Ewood Park.

“Nigel’s been very good. He’s been helping us a lot – when we’ve done something wrong, we have worked on it,” said Samba.

“He comes here every week and works on our weak points and tries to improve our strong points as well.

“We know that if we can get clean sheets and keep it tight at the back, we will win more games.

“We were concerned about the goals early on, but we have worked on the defence and we have took that onto the field.

“We have been progressing and we are looking to play good football, but it’s important that we keep it tight at the back.”

Samba has been a major hit at Ewood Park since completing a cut-price move from Hertha Berlin in January 2007.

But the 6ft 5in defender believes there is much more room for improvement.

He said: “I can get better. I’m still young, I’m only 24, so there is more to come.

“With any player and any defender, the more consistent you are, the better. You are happier when you are more consistent.”