ALEX McLeish has warned Villa’s set-piece softies to stand up strong to Stoke’s Boxing Day barrage of balls into their box this evening.

Nine of the 21 Premier League goals the claret and blues have conceded this season have come from corners, including three of the last four.

And their defensive diligence will face the ultimate test tonight against the Potters, who are renowned for their direct style and long throws. McLeish, who is set to name a back four of Carlos Cuellar, Richard Dunne, James Collins and Stephen Warnock, has appealed for total concentration.

“It is a great test for us and the players should not be scared,” said McLeish.

“They should see it as a challenge and think ‘can my concentration be supreme? Can I go 50-50 with this guy and make sure he doesn’t beat me in the battle’? You have to walk them through how to defend it on the training ground and review it on video.

“You can also look at other clubs and how they do it. Some clubs have an honour and don’t lose many goals, even when I see them defending I think they should lose more goals.

“But I just think that teams are intimidated by them and don’t really get ugly in their faces but one thing is for certain, Stoke do and everyone has to be ugly back.”

McLeish is wary about continually discussing the set-piece record for fear of it becoming an even greater issue in his players’ minds than it already is.

Villa also had one of the top flight’s worst records for defending corners and free-kicks under Gerard Houllier last season.

“I knew this would be brought up again,” he said. “The team struggled with defending corners last season so it is not a new one and, put quite simply, we have to improve it. It has really cost us.