Davies: Derby defeat hurts

Full-back Ben Davies admits the players really felt the hurt of losing Sunday’s derby at Arsenal.

The Gunners got on their way to their 4-2 win in the opening stages as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty on nine minutes put them in control. By half-time, however, we found ourselves in the lead as Eric Dier’s header (30) and a Harry Kane penalty (34) gave us the upper hand.

That would last just 11 minutes of the second-half, though, as another goal for Aubameyang put the hosts level before late strikes from Alexandre Lacazette and Lucas Torreira sealed the win for Unai Emery’s side. Jan Vertonghen was then shown a second yellow card late on as we finished the game with 10 men.

Having enjoyed such a bright week with wins over Chelsea and Inter, the defeat against Arsenal was a frustrating blow for the team, but Ben feels we need to move on quickly and begin to put things right, starting with a win over Southampton on Wednesday night.

“It’s a horrible feeling losing the derby,” our number 33 said.

“It’s a very disappointing result but we have to go away, try to get it out of our minds now and focus on the next games coming up.

“They came out of the blocks, but we had a really good go and got back into the game. That’s why it’s so disappointing we let it slip. Those are the games where you sometimes have to grind it out and we didn’t do that well enough.

“You have to deal with the highs and the lows. That’s football. Obviously, losing the derby hurts a lot and it’s about us dealing with that now and trying to put it right in the next few games.

“We have to make sure we pick up three points against Southampton and bounce back straight away.”

The squad have just three days to prepare before the arrival of the Saints to Wembley as we move into the busy winter period.

On Saturday, the south coast side had been 2-0 up against Manchester United at St Mary's but, ultimately, they were pegged back to 2-2. The result saw them slip into the relegation places and following just one win in 14 games, manager Mark Hughes was relieved of his duties at the club this morning (Monday).

The focus for Ben, however, is solely on us, as he is aiming for a return to winning ways on Wednesday (8pm).

“I watched Southampton’s game against United on Saturday and they started well, got 2-0 up and put them under a lot of pressure. They played well and earned a good point,” he explained.

“It’s a game where we have to pick up three points. It will be tough, they are scrapping away but we have to be positive, forget about the Arsenal result and move on to this one.”