Stuart Armstrong Southampton
STUART Armstrong insists there will be no hangover from Monday night’s abject display at West Brom when Saints head out at Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final this weekend, insisting: “Everyone knows what’s at stake.”
Saints were well beaten 3-0 by the second-bottom Baggies at The Hawthorns, an 11th defeat in 14 Premier League matches since early January. Asked if there was a concern the performance against the Baggies could linger, having seemingly turned a corner with back-to-back wins prior to that loss,
Stuart Armstrong said: “No, football moves fast. Every game is just around the corner. We’ll analyse the game on Monday, fix what needs to be fixed and then start preparing for a big game on Sunday. That’s football. I think you’ve got to take the highs with the lows. Monday night was certainly poor, but Sunday is a fresh challenge. It’s a big game, it’s a semi-final and a new competition so we’re very excited about that going into the weekend.”
Stuart Armstrong added: “We need to learn and improve on what we did poorly on Monday and then put it out of our minds because Sunday is a fresh game. Different style of play, different opponent and it will be a new test.”
Discussing the prospect of being just two games away from achieving something special with Saints in winning the FA Cup, a feat only previously achieved under Lawrie McMenemy in 1976,
Stuart Armstrong said: “In our minds it’s one game. It’s certainly a big one. Everyone knows what’s at stake, but we need to get there first. So first of all we must focus on our preparation and put that into a good performance.”
The other semi-final sees Chelsea face Manchester City on Saturday.
