As a player Danny Wilson spent time with Bury, Chesterfield, Nottingham Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley - making more than 600 appearances during an established career.

He also won 24 caps for Northern Ireland.

His managerial career began with Barnsley in 1994, before he moved onto Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City, MK Dons, Hartlepool United and now Swindon Town.

As a full-back I jockey the wide man and try to show him the outside, but somehow he still turns and gets away. How can I stop him?
Big Ell, via e-mail
Identify what the winger’s strengths are and then try over compensating to force him onto his weaker side.

A lot of the top full-backs in today’s game are very good at stopping even the most dangerous of wingers because they know their opponent inside out.

Do your homework if you can – know what you’re playing against – if that’s not possible try to suss him out as soon as you can.

Watch him warm-up, look at his early touches during the game, try to think like him so when you’re up against him you’ll know what he’s going to do – you’ll be a step ahead.

It’s not just about you as an individual. The defensive unit within your team need to know what you’re going to do so that they can react to it.

For instance, if the winger is a threat on the outside, you need to push him inside onto his weaker foot, so that he is going back into a lot of traffic – the rest of the team should respond to this and pressure him.

Then the defence can squeeze up. If it’s the other way round and he’s better at cutting inside, it’s your job to push him on the outside onto his weaker a foot.

As a team you have to dilute the winger’s strengths. Everyone has to react to a threat accordingly and as a unit, it’s not all about one vs one.  


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I'm a central midfielder and I want to score more goals. What can I do to improve my movement off the ball?
Elliott Day, via e-mail
If you’ve got someone beside you who’s going to give you that defensive insurance, giving you the freedom to attack the box, that’s a big help.

That will give you the confidence to get into dangerous areas. If you haven’t got that assurance, you won’t be as positive going forward.

Again, it’s a team effort and everybody needs to know their job. If you’ve got a winger in your team who likes to get the ball in the box early, you need to read his deliveries and attack the areas he drops the ball in.

You could work this out before the game – tell him to look for you at the near or back post or the penalty spot. It’s all about timing.

You have to make your run when you’re in a position of strength. If you’ve got a trickster, it might be better for him to play the ball into the feet of the strikers who can pop it off to midfielders joining the attack for a shot or a one-two.

The players you’re playing with determine the runs you make – whether they are beyond the strikers or alongside the strikers.

Formation also plays its part: that’s something you need to work on in training and concentrate on implementing during a game.  


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What do you think are the most important components of a good player and how can I work on these things?
Danny Lyons, via e-mail
A good player has a football brain, an ability to get around the park, athleticism, fitness, excellent decision-making, an understanding of what their strengths are and how to play to them.

A good player also understands their weaknesses and tries not to expose them. You also need to be able to trust the ability of the people you play alongside.

A good player knows his job in the team – he doesn’t try to do everything. Technical ability and physical strength aside, football is very much a game played with the mind.

If the team doesn’t work together it doesn’t matter how good an individual you are.  


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I know Sunday League is pretty terrible, but I want my team to play good football. Sadly, we couldn’t pass the parcel. Any tips on how we can improve?
Chris Woods, via e-mail
If you want to pass a football, you’ve got to make the pitch as big as you can. You have to understand there is more to playing football than pass and move – it’s about tactics.

For instance if you want your defence to squeeze up to the halfway line, you’re closing down the space and limiting the area you have to play football.

If you want to draw the other team out and expose them, stretch the game and create space to move the ball around.

Prepare your strikers to run in behind defenders – that will open the pitch up at one end – and have your defenders dropping off deeper to open space up at the other end.

The bigger the pitch is the more chance you have of passing the ball around at Sunday League level. To begin with I’d get players practising in 11 vs 11 on a full-size pitch.

Get used to working the ball in different areas of the pitch. Then, as you get better you can work in tighter spaces, using small-sided football drills.


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I have an 11-year-old son who loves football. He is a gifted player, but we live in Canada. I would like to get him noticed by scouts, what should I do?
John Cox, via e-mail
You need to put together a CV and DVD of your son in action. Send this out to clubs and see what response you get.

If you were looking to get him into a club in Europe, you have to remember it’s going to be expensive to get him over here for a trial.

Unless the player is of a very high level, it’s very difficult to get the club to pay for his travel and accommodation.

You don’t want to be holding a false stone. You have got to be sure he’s got the genuine talent and determination to succeed. If clubs see this, then he’s likely to get given an opportunity.