Fulham's Steed Malbranque has blamed himself for allowing goalkeeper Fabien Barthez to win the psychological battle last Saturday, when the midfielder missed a penalty against Manchester United.
Barthez saved Malbranque's penalty after delaying the kick by standing at one post removing mud from his boots.
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| Fulham midfielder Steed Malbranque accepts responsibility for Man Utd penalty miss. |
Barthez was criticised for his behaviour, which many believed to be gamesmanship. But Malbranque admitted: "Fabien played with me and got inside my head. Fabien is very professional, more experienced than me and it was difficult to concentrate.
"I have to work on my concentration. I'm still confident about taking penalties and will take it if we get one on Sunday.
"In future I will try to focus on the penalty kick and not on the situation around me."
He also said that fatigue - following the United game - had contributed to the 1-0 loss to West Ham on Wednesday.
He added: "A lot of the players are tired following our efforts against Manchester United.
"That was a very big game and it took a lot out of us. We play a lot of games in a short space of time in this country, but that's life.
"It's been a very disappointing week, but team spirit is very good. We absolutely have to win against Southampton."