A TRIP to Brentford is always likely to evoke memories for Chris Mepham.
The 25-year-old got his break in professional football with the Bees, making 48 appearances before exiting to join Cherries in 2019.
But his last visit to the west London club added a new, unwanted chapter in his association with Brentford.
With Cherries 2-1 up on aggregate and on course to reach the Championship play-off final, Mepham slipped and hauled down Bryan Mbeumo as he bore down on goal.
The Wales international was duly sent off, leaving the Bees with an extra man for the last hour of the contest. They took full advantage, progressing 3-2 over the two legs, before going on to win the Wembley play-off final.
Mepham has since spoken openly about how tough mentally that day in May 2021 was to deal with.
Now, 20 months on, the centre-back prepares to return to the Gtech Community Stadium as a Premier League player again with Cherries.
Asked in an interview with the Daily Echo if Saturday offers an opportunity to fully put to bed that play-off game, or if it is already a long way from his mind, Mepham said: “Obviously we haven’t been back there since, so naturally going back for the first time since that happened, I wouldn’t say it’s 100 per cent gone.
“But I feel like I’m a very different person and a very different player now than I was when that mistake happened.
“I feel like since then, I’ve had some big, important games I’ve been involved in with the World Cup and I’ve fortunately had a very good run of games here and I feel like I’ve been putting in good performances.
“I’d say with that, I’m in a very different place now than back then when that mistake happened.
“But I think I’m very much going into the game wanting to put that right and make sure I give a good performance. To me, I’m going into that game no different to any other Premier League game.”
Asked if he is proud of the way he has responded since that setback, to become first choice for both club and country, Mepham added: “Of course I’m not happy that happened on that day, because just mentally and emotionally, you don’t come away from that situation feeling good about yourself. It did take a fair few days to come back around.
“But at the same time, when a situation like that happens, it’s important that you don’t go the other way and go into your shell and I think when stuff like that happens it’s a real test of character.
“I think it was important I responded in the right way. I think since then, last season was difficult for me with limited opportunities.
“But I like to think, when I did come on and Scott Parker brought me on to have a positive impact, I’d like to think I did do that.
“I’m really pleased with the way I responded to that particular day, because as you can imagine, it takes a big dent out of you. Since that moment, I feel like it’s been really positive for me.”
It has been a tough few weeks for Cherries.
Since the World Cup break, they have lost all five of their matches, culminating in a 4-2 defeat to Championship Burnley in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Reflecting on the defeat to the Clarets, Mepham, who was an unused substitute, said: “It was obviously a difficult one to take.
“I felt like in the second half against United we had a really good performance. We obviously conceded a couple of goals, but there was lots of positives to take from that game into the Burnley one.
“I think Burnley was an opportunity for us to get back to winning ways and get confidence back in the team and take that momentum then back into the league.
“It was difficult, the performance wasn’t good enough. I think the nature of the goals really. I don’t think we got cut open by Burnley at all, three goals come from our mistakes.
“I think at any level, if you make mistakes like that, you’re going to get punished. I think that was the real disappointing thing."
He continued: “Marcos (Senesi) for the first goal, he’s probably one of our most technical players in the team. He’s the guy that sometimes we give the ball to to start our attacks, because we know he’s got a huge amount of quality on the ball.
“I think it’s just very unlike him for that goal, unlike Lewis Cook to receive the ball on the half turn and lose it.
“They’re the players that all season haven’t done mistakes like that. Everyone is going to make mistakes, I think it was just a case of it all seemed to happen in the same game, which is obviously a real negative for us.
“But you could argue that’s behind us now and hopefully we don’t make mistakes like that, because over the course of the season it will kill you.”
One player who received criticism at the weekend was captain Lloyd Kelly.
After coming on at half-time, Kelly’s dallying on the ball led to some frustrations from the fans, with a section of the supporters booing the 24-year-old when he was in possession.
Quizzed on how Kelly has responded to that this week, Mepham said: “Naturally, as a leader of the team, as the captain of the team, normally it’s his responsibility to get us going.
“On Monday morning when we come in, try to get everyone going and have a chat and be positive.
“But I think certainly after the game on Saturday and the abuse or the comments he suffered, I think it was important we were there for him.
“He’s been top drawer since he came into the team last season. He plays week in, week out at a very high level and he’s been a big part of why we’re now back in the Premier League.
“I think if we, as players, see one of our teammates hurt in a situation or suffering, it’s important for us to get behind him.
“We’ve certainly done that this week and I’m in no doubt he’ll put all those critics behind him because he’s a top, top player and has been for us since he’s come in.”
With the game against Brentford being a 5.30pm kick-off, there is a realistic chance Cherries could be in the bottom three by that time.
Asked what his message is to the fans ahead of the weekend, Mepham said: “I think we need that support.
“We need to head down there knowing exactly where we’re at in terms of that everyone is in it together. Whether we go 1-0 down, 1-0 up, we’ve got everyone behind each other.
“The players are there, the staff are there, the fans are there backing us as they have done for many years. But I think that is really important, it’s not panic stations.
“We’re currently outside the relegation zone and one or two wins can change everything – suddenly we’re top 10.
“Of course it can go the other way and a couple of bad results, like we’ve experienced, suddenly brings you closer to the drop zone.
“But I think we need to believe that we’ve got enough in this squad to produce wins in this league and hopefully that can start on Saturday.”
