REACTION | Keiran Morphew Post Match Interview | Oxford City V Needham Market | 21.09.2024

Captain Keiran Morphew reflects on yesterday's game.

DK: A bad day at the office today?

KM: Yeah, we haven't played well today and we didn't play well last week either, so I mean you can maybe write one off as a fluke but then to do it back-to-back, it's not good at all. So I think players have got to, everyone, including myself, older players, younger players, everyone's got to look at what they're doing outside of the games, after games, after training, before training, the whole thing's got to be looked at individually, collectively and we've just got to find a bit of heart really because at the moment that's the management said obviously and it looks like it, feels like it, we're lethargic, heartless, toothless and we have got it in the locker because we've shown it for obviously three or four months ago, from three or four months ago for the whole season and in all the Needham teams I've been part of they've always had heart and work rate, but last couple of games we hadn't seemed to have that so and I don't think that's, I'm not, listen, I don't think that's the lads choosing not to do it. I don't know whether it's like fitness is a question mark maybe or I personally think we've got to look at what how we're doing after, what we're doing after training and after games and are we doing the right thing but yeah.

DK: Is it still a good start though would you say?

KM: Yeah I mean, yeah I think we had a couple of good wins away and showed that we can compete with teams like Hereford who are right up there and they're a good sized club and we beat Warrington away. I think we've got it in the locker it's just it's hard to say really, but today was not good for anyone on Needham's side so we've had we had quite a few fans come out so yeah that's not a good one for them to see and I apologise for everyone really for what they've just watched.

DK: Like you say, one that as long as next week you put it right you can just brush under it.

KM: Yeah I mean you have to you can't you can't dwell on it because obviously the next game is in the Premier Cup we've got a free Saturday because we already got knocked out of the FA Cup after a poor performance so we're gonna have to dust ourselves off, go back to work, you can only work harder in training and if that means lads you got to do a outside of the commitment to the club to to play at this level then so be it. Obviously we want to win five in a row. I've tempted fate by saying it obviously, which I hate doing, but I want to win every game that makes me feel sick to the stomach when we get anything but a win let alone - when you play bad and lose. (That) feeling what lives with you for ages, but yeah you just got to put it right in the next training session and the next game, just typical things. What you can say, I hate saying the cliche phrases and stuff like that, because I just think that's most of the stuff that people say is why do you need to say that it's all a given anyway, but yeah you just got to dust yourself off and go again.

DK: In terms of how we have started this season though would you have anticipated as good a start what we had or would you think we'd have been better?

KM: We had a hard start, we had Southport, and I've said before in an interview with you, we obviously had Scunthorpe. We had tough games we gradually improved the results and performances got a couple of wins and then we've sort of fell off again so it's about solidifying getting a trying to while stabilizing the next result I always want to win, but a draw is an improvement just anything about a loss like I mean it's embarrassing really, like the way we just played dead - and I normally try and defend the players well as a in the changing room, probably some players say different but I don't know I try and sort of defend the players to the staff but today it's hard to do you know including myself.