Defiant Davies

Defender Ben Davies knows times have been tough for us in the Premier League of late, but he is as determined as ever to help us rediscover our form and get ourselves moving back up the table, starting today against Sheffield United

- Liam Carson

It was a proud moment for Ben Davies to captain the team for the first time against Everton last Sunday, but the defender could not have imagined how greatly his calming influence would be needed in Merseyside as the game took an unfortunate turn in its late stages.

Drawing 1-1 in Liverpool, we battled hard to take a point on our travels with an encouraging team performance but that positive display became almost immaterial after Toffees’ midfielder Andre Gomes suffered a severe ankle injury on 79 minutes.

A sombre atmosphere covered all corners of Goodison Park in the moments after the incident involving Heung-Min Son and Serge Aurier as the true extent of the Portuguese midfielder’s injury became clear. The players who witnessed it were visibly distressed, holding their heads in dismay as they offered all their support to Gomes. No one more so than Son, who was dismissed in the aftermath for his challenge, although that red card has since been rescinded.

After such a difficult moment, a man down and with at least 10 minutes of the game still to play, plus a considerable spell of injury time expected to be added on, the team needed galvanising, pulling together and refocussing. First-time skipper Ben had to act.

“Goodison is a very hard place to go and as far as the game plan went it was about scoring that first goal and trying to stay on top. Incidents like Andre Gomes’ injury, however, change games and it really shifted the momentum,” Ben explained.

“It was a horrible moment and you could see that the boys were a bit shaken up from it, but I had to tell the lads to try to focus on the remainder of the game and deal with everything that would come afterwards. That was the message.