Vice-captain ready to come out fighting
Keith Southern told htafc.com that he and his teammates need to come out fighting over the next couple of weeks to turn around their poor run of form.
Town are without a win in ten and go in to Saturday’s Third Round FA Cup clash on the back of a 6-1 defeat against Leicester.
“It hasn’t been a nice place to be, as you would expect. It has been pretty quiet and subdued, but that is the way of the football world,” said Keith.
“Everybody is hurting and what happened on New Year’s Day hurt the football club a lot; we need to come out fighting.
“I don’t know about the other lads, but I haven’t had too much sleep over the last couple of days thinking about what happened. It is my profession, my livelihood and it hurt me. I am sure the other lads are feeling exactly the same. The result has gone now and although we can dissect and pick the bones out of it we need to refocus and look ahead to the Charlton game. We need to show a response.
“There have been plenty of honest words said. A lot of soul searching was done and a few harsh words were said, but we needed that, we can’t hide behind the fact that we got beat 6-1. We are at a critical stage of the season where things can go either way and we need to respond.”
The midfielder added: “The Leicester result has probably been coming for a couple of weeks, but you are always only one win from turning things around. It we keep putting in performances like the Leicester one then we will get relegated, it is as simple as that. We need to stem the tide and pick up a win.”
Keith is one of Town’s most experienced players and is set to make the 400th appearance of his career at the Valley.
“I see a lot of fight in a lot of the players and I just think one or two need to show it a bit more,” said Keith. “There is a core of players at the football club who are hurting and who will need to help drive the team forward through this difficult period. The only way that we will get through this is through shear hard work and that is something that I will try and instil in to the team.
“Not enough of us are playing well at the moment. Not enough of the lads are winning their personal battles against the opposition and when that happens, you get beat. We need to show some spirit and passion that we failed to show two days ago.”
Although the Charlton match gives Town a break from league action the midfielder feels that it is irrelevant and that the Terriers just need a win to stem the slide.
“I don’t think it matters what format we are playing in, at the end of the day it is a game of football and we need to come out fighting and show a response. We need to win a game of football by any means necessary; it is as simple as that. Whether it is a scrappy win or a three or four goal beating of somebody, we need to win because confidence is a little bit low. We have got a number of young players in the squad who have probably never experienced anything like this. You find out a lot about people during times like these. I am sure that we will be OK and that the lads will come out fighting and get that victory.”
Town fans can pay on the gate at the Valley from the South Stand turnstiles.
