SOMETIMES you have to hold your hands up and just admit that you were well beaten. That was the case on Saturday. Southampton are the best team we've faced this season. At our place, and theirs, they gave us a lesson.
It is hard to accept but they were by far the better team. They showed again last night, putting five past Huddersfield, that Saturday wasn't a fluke. They have some very good players and, as gutted as we all were, now the dust has settled a bit you have to take your hat off to them.
Our preparation was spot-on. We travelled down on the Friday and stopped at a top hotel. We went swimming when we got there, to get the journey out of our legs, and then rested up ahead of the match. I shared a room with Jonah (Steve Jones) who thinks he's a bit special on Pro Evo. We went to St Mary's looking to cause a bit of an upset like we did at Leeds but it wasn't to be and it was a long journey home.
The lads who didn't play on Saturday were in training on Monday and the lads who did were in on Tuesday. I had training Monday and then played for the reserves last night. It was god to get some minutes under my belt but the pitch was a bit heavy to be honest. Talking about my old mate Jonah, I knew he'd miss the penalty. He always skies them in training and I said to Ishmael Miller that he'd put it over......and he did. He's a class act but his spot-kicks need a bit of work.
The weather has finally started to improve. I was able to get out on the golf course today. I had a knock with a few mates back in Kirkby or Kirkby La La as we call it (as in 'alright la', 'how are you la'). It was a bit cold but I enjoyed being back out there and I did okay to be fair. I was a little rusty though, so I'll have to get a few games in before I challenge Rhys (Weston) to a rematch.
Tonight I'm going around my mate's house to watch the England game. I think Egypt will be quite a tough game to be honest. They won the African Cup of Nations, so they're on a high and will be no mugs. As a Blue I'm pleased that Leighton Baines has been called up. It looks like it's between him and Villa's Stephen Warnock for a World Cup place now and I've been having banter with a few Villa supporters about who should get the nod. I went to the same school as Leighton. He was a few years older than me and I'm glad he's doing well. I think he's been Everton's most consistent player this season.
Tomorrow we'll turn our attentions to the Millwall game on Saturday. We need to put in a performance after last weekend and that's what we're determined to do.
Mark Hughes
