Seattle Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid is delighted with how his side is defending at present.

The Sounders have kept clean sheets in their past two matches and Schmid says the assistance from attacking players like Steve Zakuani, Sanna Nyassi and Fredy Montero has been a major plus.

"The defense is obviously playing well. When you talk defense, it's everybody. It's the additional defending that a Steve Zakuani does when he's clearing headers out of your 18-yard box off corners, that's a big plus for your team," he told the Seattle Times.

"It's the defending that [Sanna] Nyassi does on the side as well. It's the pressure that [Fredy] Montero gives onto defenders up front. All of those things help us defensively.

"As I have said before, defending is about defending well to get the ball back and if you get the ball back then you can score goals. So it's also not a coincidence that as we defend better we end up scoring more. So from that standpoint I have been very pleased."