Kuqi: I let you down

Shefki Kuqi: guilty feeling

Latics hitman vows to make amends
SHEFKI Kuqi bears a heavy weight of guilt on his broad shoulders.

But the striker, who feels he “let the players down” against Chesterfield, hopes and believes his, and his club’s, fortunes will soon improve.

Athletic’s 13-goal top scorer struck the crossbar with a penalty, hit a post and forced a point-blank save with a header across the two legs of the club’s heartbreaking Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, Northern final defeat.

In the aftermath of the 3-1 aggregate loss to the Spireites, the 35-year-old was said to be in a contemplative mood in the Boundary Park dressing room, towel draped over his head and barely moving an inch for more than half an hour.

It is clear that a competitor as intense as Kuqi feels the pain more than most — for reasons related to the team rather than his personal fortunes.

“Yes, absolutely,” was the stern-faced response uttered by Kuqi when asked if he would maintain penalty duties, despite failing with his last two spot-kicks, the latter coming in the B2net Stadium in the first leg.

While every bit as strong-willed and team-oriented as his manager Paul Dickov was as a player, Kuqi says those misses against Chesterfield have played on his mind.

“As a centre-forward, against Chesterfield I could have scored two or three,” he said. “I hit the post and had a couple of other chances.

“Sometimes, whatever you do, it won’t go in — then at other times, it will hit your chest, shoulder or knees and bounce in.

“We lost the game and chances count for nothing. You have to take them. As much as I am disappointed for the team that we didn’t make the final, I am disappointed in myself because I let the players down. I should never miss the chances I had. But that is football.”

Since Kuqi’s last goal for the club against Bradford in the area JPT semi-final, Athletic have gone on a run of only two wins in 11 matches, with a mere eight goals arriving in that period.

With a torrent of fixtures between now and the end of next month (see panel above), the former Finland forward has plenty of scope to switch those fortunes around.

“I am disappointed with the way the last few games have gone for me, but that is football and you try to bounce back,” said Kuqi.

“At the moment, it seems to be really hard to score not just for me but for us as a team.

“I said from day one when I came here, my aim is to achieve things and to get something for this team.

“It doesn’t matter about the goals I get, but at the moment it seems to be dry for everybody.”

Meanwhile, Dickov has confirmed that the club are not seeking to bring in any further players now that the window for emergency loans has reopened.