Sheffield Wednesday v Blackburn Rovers: Yan Valery tackling Owls' defensive resolve head on

It is the passion of English football which many foreign players cite as its biggest appeal, and Sheffield Wednesday defender Valery is no different.

The defender has switched between the two countries during his career, coming through the youth system at Southampton and spending time on loan at Birmingham City before establishing himself in his homeland with Angers.

It makes him well placed to talk about the different football cultures, and there is one aspect of the game here he really enjoys - the way thumping tackles are applauded in this country as opposed to ignored across the Channel.

"I would say France is a bit more tactical - keeping the ball and less attack-defence," he says. "Here, especially in the Championship, it's a lot of attack-defence. When you have the ball it's about going straight to attack. Sometimes in the stadium you can keep the ball a bit too much and the fans will boo. That's the culture here in England where in France you can do this as well but it's more tactical and sometimes keeping the ball more. It depends which team you play for."

But knowing fans appreciate what defenders are doing and not just the glory boys scoring the goals means something to Valery, part of a defensive unit which has been remarkably resilient this season despite the regular loss of key players and the reshuffles they have forced.

"(Playing in) the defensive positions is harsh because a player can have a really bad game but if he scores everyone's happy," he says. "As a defender you can have a really good game and then in the last 10 minutes there's a mistake that leads to a goal and everyone forgets.

"It's important when we make tackles and do good things defensively that we get recognised for this."