FOOTBALL: DEFENDER Joel Kettle insists that the players must take responsibility for Solihull Moors’ recent poor run of form and has urged his team mates to stick together during this tough period, writes Luke Turner.
Liam McDonald’s side are on a run of four straight defeats with the gap to the relegation zone now standing at just five points and Kettle says the players only have themselves to blame.
He said: “We can put our finger on the excuse that we were tired, they (opponents) are full-time, their resources are better but at the end of the day we as players have got to look at ourselves and think that we haven’t performed.
“We haven’t given it our all, we’ve not put our bodies on the line and we’ve not performed to the standard that we’ve set for ourselves and that’s the disappointing thing for the club and the manager.
“We’ve missed opportunities to consolidate our position at this level especially with three of the last four games being at home. They were three that we should’ve got more out of and targeted to pick up points.”
Kettle, 26, joined Moors in December and has gone on to make 18 appearances and scored one goal for the side in his first season in the National League- something that he admits has come at a surprise.
“I think I’ve adapted really well. It is difficult and I had no expectation that I was going to come here and get off to a flying start.
“It’s definitely lived up to the difficulties as you’re coming up against high quality opposition who are going to punish you if you make mistakes.
“I get on really well with the players, management and seem to have a good rapport with the fans who have been very welcoming so I can only thank them for that.
“Liam (McDonald) is a breath of fresh air. He’s a young manager still learning himself but he’ll tell you something that you didn’t even think of that you need to know in the game and it does help.
“His intensity and scrutiny of every last point gives you a little bit of an advantage and that’s a massive positive of what the gaffer brings to the team and my game,” Kettle continued.
Moors travel to high flying Tranmere on Saturday in a game which Kettle suggests needs to be used as a starting block for picking up points from now until the end of the season.
He added: “We’ve got to try and get back to the heights we were producing. As players we’ve got to up our intensity, pull our socks up and pull out a dogged victory where we throw our bodies on the line.
“We can only look at one game at a time and we’ve got to stick together and continue working hard.”
