Lee Bowyer explains reasoning behind playing Onel Hernandez as a wing-back

Bowyer has defended the decision to keep playing Hernandez at wing-back.
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Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer says that playing Onel Hernandez as a wing-back is him playing in his ‘normal position,’ just with more defending involved.

Hernandez has been deployed as one of the two wing-backs in recent weeks due to Bowyer’s desire to play a five at the back formation.

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In doing so though, the man on loan from Norwich City is having to defend a lot more and in turn losing some of his attacking threat.

The Cuban international is arguably one of, if not the most threatening player on the pitch for Blues and using him as a wing-back could be seen as wasteful.

Bowyer, however, doesn’t believe that this is the case.

“I think when I have played him behind the strikers he prefers to be out wide,” explained the manager.

“So even when I say to him ‘play there’, he ends up out wide. As a wing-back it’s simple isn’t it? Wing-back against wing-back.

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“So today, their lad I am guessing is a right-back on a normal day and Onel is a left winger on a normal day. So he is playing in his normal position. If the right back was to run forward he would have to track him and vice versa, so he is playing in his normal position when you play him in that left wing back position.

“He has to do a little bit of defending but he has to do that when he is playing as a winger, I don’t think that matters.”

During the 4-2 defeat to Coventry City, Hernandez was also kept back during every Blues set-piece. If a corner was being taken or a dangerous free-kick, the 29-year-old was left on the half-way line to deal with a potential breakaway for the visitors.

Bowyer again defended the instruction for him to do this and gave two reasons for doing so.

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“Would you rather have Marc Roberts in the box or Onel Hernandez,” said the manager.

“If you put him on the edge of the box, you’re losing one of the big ones.

“We scored two. They scored three but...

“I wouldn’t say having Onel back - someone’s got to be back, unfortunately today it was him.

“Because they have two up as well, so that’s the other reason. If they’d have had one up then he’d have been on the edge (of the box).”

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