Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper's clean sheet relief (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper's clean sheet relief

10:00am Tuesday 13th March 2012 in Sport By Andy Cryer, Blackburn Rovers reporter

CLEAN SHEET Captain Paul Robinson

PAUL Robinson admits he is relieved to have ended Blackburn Rovers’ shut-out misery as he now sets his sights on topping the relegation ‘mini league’.

Rovers’ vital 2-0 victory at Wolves on Saturday saw them keep their first clean sheet of the season, having gone longer than any other Premier League team in history without one.

Rovers goalkeeper Robinson was well aware that no Premier League side had ever gone all season without a shut-out and, now with that “embarrassment” behind him, is asking for more of the same in the season finale.

He said: “It doesn’t matter whether we have deserved a clean sheet before or not, it is a case of getting one and that relieves me the most.

“We were getting precariously close to some unwanted record and it is not something I want on my CV.

“I pride myself by the way I keep goal and clean sheets always go down to a goalkeeper. You can say it starts up front but everyone says clean sheets are down to a goalkeeper.

“Clean sheets are what you pride yourselves on and we need to keep more between now and the end of the season.”

Steve Kean’s men are now three points ahead of the danger zone and, with Sunderland next to visit Ewood a week on Tuesday, have put themselves into pole position to escape the drop.

Skipper Robinson though knows the importance of building on Saturday’s crucial victory, just their second away win of the season, as Rovers look to stay ahead of the pack.

He said: “It was a fantastic performance from us to be honest.

“From the first whistle we got at Wolves and quietened their crowd.

“We knew they got heavily beaten the week before and we knew if we got a goal against them they would be a little bit nervous.

“I think that was one of our better performances this season. We have had performances without results because if we had had the results we wouldn’t be in the position we are in.

“The truth is we are in a little mini league at the bottom and at the moment we sit at the top of that five and that is where we need to stay.

“We have to build on it.We have two very winnable games coming up now.

“We are home to Sunderland and then an away trip to Bolton and if we play like we did at Wolves we won’t be too far off.”

Robinson has also praised his side’s character for the way they recovered from falling 1-0 behind to Aston Villa the previous weekend.

“I think the second half performance last week gave us a lot of confidence,” he said.

“We have got the ability, we have got the players. We have a great group of players at the moment.”