PFA exclusive with Albion's Swedish stopper

If you want to listen to the exploits of goalscoring defenders then Givemefootball is the place to be.

Last week we spoke exclusively to Liam Ridgewell after his goal for Birmingham against Sunderland, whilst this week it is the turn of WBA defender Jonas Olsson.

The Swedish stopper was on target as Albion blew a hole in their recent run of form by smashing Watford 5-0 at The Hawthorns. Newcastle’s win at Sheffield United on Monday means they have leapfrogged the Baggies back into top spot, but Albion are hot on their heels in the log jam at the top of the Championship.

Roberto Di Matteo is putting his own stamp on proceedings since replacing Tony Mowbray in the summer, and expectations are high in the Black Country of a swift return to the Premier League. But despite Olsson’s powerful header against Watford, Ian Clarkson found the Swede in cautious mood in another Givemefootball exclusive.

Q: Aside from your goal at the weekend - how has the season gone so far?

A: My own personal performance has been like that of the team. We started off the campaign pretty well but over the last few weeks we have struggled as a team a bit and I think that has reflected on me.

Q: It was becoming a bit of a struggle before the big win over Watford, wasn't it?

A: If we could put our finger on why we struggled for a few weeks we would have done as we weren’t doing anything different. Our performances have been decent apart from one or two and there excellent performances against Preston and Reading but games can be decided by the smallest of margins and we must do better over the course of the season.

Q: As a defender you must be happy with the way the team aren't leaking many goals?

A: In the last few games we had done a lot of work on defending beforehand on the training ground and I think that was clear during the matches.

I probably could have said we needed to be a little bit more clinical in the box too but it’s not just us as there are plenty of teams at the top of the table who are struggling for consistent results. Teams such as Middlesbrough are finding it hard as well and this is a tough division.

Q: Will you improve as the season goes on?

A: We have had and are still having our fair share of injuries and we are missing lots of players up front. When we get all of these players back it will only benefit us and I think the fact it is a long season is in our favour as we will get stronger.

Q: What has been the highlight of the season so far?

A: The highlight of the season so far was undoubtedly the 5-0 win at Middlesbrough.

However, we struggled a little results-wise since then but hopefully we are back on track now. The key to this season for me is winning our home games. It is always difficult to continually pick up results on the road and we will need to pick up the majority of our points at home. That’s where we need to improve.