Darren O’Dea knew his task when he answered Toronto FC’s help wanted ad.

The 25-year-old Irish international, expected to make his debut with the club Saturday, was signed two weeks ago to be the leader of a young backline, a calming presence and a voice of experience for the worst defence in Major League Soccer.

“It’s quite obvious the team needs to stop conceding so many goals,” O’Dea told reporters after a Friday training session at Downsview, which ended with lots of work defending corners, an area of recurring weakness for last-place TFC.

“At the end of the day, you need to want to go and head the ball and put your head where it hurts, and certainly I’ll do that and I’ll make sure everyone else is doing that,” he said of defending set pieces, the source of nearly one-quarter of TFC’s 42 goals against in 2012. “It’s tough enough to win football matches without conceding goals from set pieces.”

On Wednesday, while O’Dea was in Serbia on international duty, TFC gave up its seventh goal of the season on a corner in a 2-2 draw with Portland. The Reds have also allowed three goals from indirect free kicks, sure signs of glaring defensive breakdowns.

“Obviously our Achilles heel is set pieces,” head coach Paul Mariner said Friday.

O’Dea, who last season played on loan from Scotland’s Celtic to Leeds United in the second-tier English Championship, will face a tough initial test in MLS. Eastern Conference-leading Sporting Kansas City is particularly dangerous on set pieces with the likes of Kei Kamara and Teal Bunbury up top and Graham Zusi providing service.

Mariner said despite the long travel back from a mid-week game in Europe, O’Dea will be up to the task because “he’s mentally very very tough.”

“He’s a different specimen,” Mariner said. “Darren’s got fantastic habits, on the field, off the field. You can see it just the way he commands himself.

“He’s beautiful for us back there. I think the fans are really going to take to this kid.”

Goalkeeper Milos Kocic, who has so often been left helpless this season, is pleased with how his new centre back has taken charge of the backline in training sessions.

“On the set pieces, he’s the guy who’s going to take responsibility and he’s not going to let people jump easy,” Kocic said.

But Kocic added that defending set pieces — and the rest of an opposition attack — cannot be done by just one guy. It’s about collective responsibility, he said.

“I don’t want to put pressure on the guy and everything,” Kocic said. “Let him bring what he brings to the game. That is exactly what we need at this moment.”

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O’Dea, who said Friday’s training session “was important to get the rubbish out of my legs” from the overseas trip and his first 90 minutes of game action in weeks, is not concerned too much pressure is being put on him to bring instant results to TFC.

“The biggest pressure is put on by myself,” he said. “Whether I was back there with three other senior players, it wouldn’t matter. I’d still want to be doing the same job. Hopefully I can make a difference. I think I will.”