Hurt, But Confident

LEIGH Robinson is confident that his Yellows have what it takes to maintain their Pitching In Southern League Premier Division South status despite their heavy defeat at AFC Totton.

The Tivvy manager felt that “everything that could go wrong did go wrong” during the 5-0 defeat in Hampshire, including a first-half sending-off of midfielder River Allen, and that fourth-placed Totton took full advantage.

He is backing his players to bounce back and pick up enough points from their final six games - all but one of which is on home soil at Ladysmead - to avoid relegation.

“It was a difficult day and pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” said Leigh.

“We conceded early; missed two one-on-ones to equalise; missed a penalty; conceded a second goal almost straight after the penalty miss; and then got a red card.

“At 2-0 down and a man light, the second half was always going to be tough against a good side like Totton in pretty hot form.

“When you come away to places like this, you have to be fully at it, physically and technically. If you’re not, you quickly get found out. You also have to take the moments that come your way, and we didn’t.

“Let’s have it right - we knew this was a really tough fixture and we’d have to be at our best to get anything, but we did also make it incredibly hard for ourselves unfortunately.

“The scoreline hurts, but things are still in our hands, with five out of the last six games at home.

“I’ve got full confidence that we’ve got the ability and spirit within the group to put today aside, regroup and pick up the wins necessary.”