Taylor Harwood-Bellis
Saints are without a win from their first seven league games this season but host fellow promoted side Leicester City on Saturday. Taylor acknowledged the challenge that Leicester City presents but emphasized the importance of leveraging home advantage.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis said, “We’ve had a couple of weeks now to work on stuff on the training ground. The atmosphere around the place has been really good. It’s been positive. Obviously, the results have not gone as well as we’d have liked. Ideally, we’d like to have had more points than we do at this stage. But honestly, the feel and the standard of training has been really good. It always is, to be fair. But I think, especially this week, it’s been really good and it’s definitely a positive. There’s always going to be pressure and outside noise. We’ve got to deal with it ourselves internally as a team, as a group. There’s always going to be pressure in this league. No matter who you play, never an easy game in any week. It’s going to be tough. There’s maybe a bit of added pressure with who we’re facing on Saturday. But we have to use that to our advantage. But we’re at home and we know what we can do. We know what we’re about. We know the qualities that we’ve got. We need to go into it feeling confident. We have to remain as a team and believe in ourselves. That’s something the gaffer is drilling into us. Once we get that first win, it will breed confidence.”
Taylor, who arrived in the summer, is one of several options for Russell Martin at left-back this season. He expressed enthusiasm about his current situation and competition within the team.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis said, “I’m loving it really. The south coast is a nice place to live. The lads are really good, as are the management and staff. I’m just really enjoying it. We’ve got Ryan, Kyle, Yuki (Sugawara), Breezy (James Bree), we’ve got a lot of talent. I think it’s down to everyone individually to train well every week and play well when given the chance. I don’t think anyone’s ever guaranteed to play every game unless you’re Messi or Ronaldo. It drives you every day in training to be the best version of yourself and to train well. The full-back role is massively important in football now. It took me time to adapt and learn stuff. From one manager to another, you’re never going to play the same style. Under Russell, I’m really enjoying it. It is a different style, but I’m learning. We’re a big possession-based side and that plays a key role. I think in any team, you always want to have the ball. You want to spend more time with it than without it. That’s really enjoyable and that’s something I’m enjoying.”
