SAINTS striker Adam Armstrong has insisted that he and his teammates must take responsibility for their struggling season after a raft of criticism aimed at manager Nathan Jones. Armstrong’s goal fired Saints to a much-needed win against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round, giving Jones just his second victory since arriving at the club. Despite the eventual win, Saints supporters voiced their frustration with multiple chants ‘Nathan Jones, your football is s***’. But speaking after his winning goal, Armstrong took responsibility for the recent poor form saying ‘it’s us on the pitch at the end of the day.’
Adam Armstrong said: “It’s just football and it happens everywhere, and when things aren’t going well it’s only right – I was a fan once and I still am. It happens in football but it’s how you react and I thought we reacted well, did everything we had to do and got the win. It’s us on the pitch at the end of the day, we have to get results and we had to get a win to give the fans a little bit of a boost, as well as for ourselves. We’ve been down and we have to go again, we have to get the winning feeling back and especially in the league as well. It’s something we’re working hard on but we have to put our chances away.”
Armstrong has routinely found himself playing on the wing this season and regardless of position, the 25-year-old now has added competition in the form of Croatian international Mislav Orsic – something he’s hoping will provide everyone at the club with a lift.
Adam Armstrong said: “We need a boost, we’re not stupid. Hopefully, the additions we get can be excellent and really help us. I think a win lifts everyone for the whole weekend, I’ve been a fan myself and when you win it makes the whole weekend better. We have to take confidence, work hard and do a job on Manchester City. We knew that we had to put on a performance for the fans and give everyone a boost, it’s been a tough couple of weeks. I thought we were excellent in the second half to see the game out and showed a bit of grittiness that we’ve got in the team, but it’s a massive win.”
Armstrong’s goal came from impressive perseverance as he chased down a back-pass and stole the ball from Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita before tapping into the empty net.
Adam Armstrong said: “I think it’s risk and reward. Sometimes it goes for you and sometimes it doesn’t but I pressed the goalkeeper and lucky enough it’s come straight to my feet to put into the net.”
The 68th-minute strike marked Armstrong’s first goal since becoming a father earlier this season – joining Moussa Djenepo and Che Adams as fresh first-time fathers during the 2022/23 campaign.
Adam Armstrong said: “It’s been good yeah, I’m feeling good and I’ve been trying to get as much sleep as I can. First one and the team has been in a tough position so it’s about we react. We can take a bit of confidence from this and I know we’ve got Manchester City next which is going to be tough, but we have to take every bit of confidence we can.”
