IT WASN'T JUST ME

John O’Shea:

"I don't think it was just the youngsters, everybody at the club needed a kick up the backside because we weren't performing too well. The key is to learn from it and make sure we improve.

"We are all professional and you have to cope with it.

"Strikers get more scrutiny when they are going through a barren spell when they are not scoring goals. It happens to defenders when you concede them.

"The chopping and changing has affected us. We had a settled back four before the Christmas period and the changes have unsettled us a little bit.

"But we have to keep practising and hope it turns round for us. In Rio, Gary and Mikael you are talking about losing three world-class players. You are bound to suffer because of it.

"However, that is where the squad comes into it. We are not the only club who are going to miss players through the season and we have to cope with it.

"Personally I was getting settled into left-back, then I had to switch to right-back and then centre-back it has upset me a little bit but I just have to get on with it and get back to playing the way I know I can.

"You have to get on with it. My first season went well but the second hasn't been as good. It is natural people will say that but I have to keep my head down, believe in my own ability and make sure I give the manager a tough choice not to leave me out of the starting line-up.

"I have only been living with this spotlight for a couple of years. I can only imagine what some of the others have had to put up with. You just have to keep your head down and work hard.

"We have to get the next victory as quickly as possible. The games are getting fewer and fewer and we have to win matches.

"There is a lack of confidence at the moment. You can tell by the way people are playing. It is not the Manchester United everybody knows. It is up to the players that go out on the pitch to perform. We have to keep working hard in training and keep believing in our ability.

"We can do it again. We know from the past we have strung a lot of victories together. We just have to do that again. It will have to be because the gap is so big. We have to try and put some pressure on Arsenal.

"I hope Arsenal slip up. They have been looking very strong but they have drawn a lot of games as well. Eventually they will come unstuck somewhere, hopefully sooner rather than later.

"We have to concentrate on our jobs and make sure we put pressure on Arsenal to slip up. There is no margin for error now. We have to focus on each individual game as a cup final now.”