Russell Martin’s team failed to score at St Mary’s for the first time since September, falling to a single goal from Tyrese Campbell nine minutes before halftime.
Fraser said the performance was the product of a slump in form that came at the worst possible time, as Saints lost three straight games to guarantee their place in the playoffs after three straight victories had put them back in the running for automatic promotion.
It wasn’t good enough, he admitted, but he believed it was due to his lackluster performance over the previous three or four weeks. We’ve struggled a little bit as we’ve neared the finish line, and it doesn’t feel good.
“I believe that has infiltrated our game, and we’re working hard to remove it, but things haven’t been going well just now.
“Right now, it doesn’t feel nice. We sort of bounced back to second place at one point, but I think it was a collective effort gone awry.
We had a slight run of success with the other results, which helped us climb back up, but we faltered with the outcomes once more. Since we don’t have much time left, we really need to learn from this.
Though you never want to lose, this is the perfect time to lose. I understand that supporters may believe that “we shouldn’t lose,” but right now would prefer to lose than wait three games to do so.
We must start over, unite as a team, and contribute everything we have. We’re trying everything, but something doesn’t seem right right now. I’m not sure if that’s due to pressure or anxiousness, but we need to start over and give it our all the following week in training.