Kingson: I'll Bounce Back

Richard Kingson has vowed to bounce back after his disappointing performance in Saturday's defeat to Portsmouth. The Ghana star let a shot from international team-mate Sulley Muntari slip under his body at the near post to put Portsmouth in command on Saturday. Kingson, 29, admitted he was distraught, but that it would not shatter his confidence. "It was very disappointing for me and the team," he reflected. "I feel so bad about it. I was over-come that we lost that way, with me letting in a goal like that.

"It wasn't a lack of concentration. I couldn't expect it because the defender and their player were coming together, and the ball passed through the defender's legs. My left foot was gripped in the grass so it forced me to go down, so it became a difficult ball for me. "I still have self-confidence, I believe in myself. This cannot take my morale away from me". He continued "It was my first game for Birmingham in the Premier League and I was sad about the goal and the fact we lost. "If I get the chance to play again I am sure I will prove myself to everybody."

Kingson has also admitted that Birmingham players are reeling from Steve Bruce's departure to Wigan Athletic. The Ghanaian said the knock-on effect was obvious in training the day before Portsmouth's visit to St Andrew's. "I can't say it didn't affect us because, on Friday, training wasn't like it was, it was a little bit slow, slow, slow," he said. "We didn't fight, normally on Fridays, before a game, when we are playing you can see more fire, but it wasn't like that. I think it has affected everyone. Hopefully the next game everyone will come together and it will be like it was."

Kingson, who returned from international duty on Thursday evening and detected a mood change the next day at Wast Hills, continued: "I was so sad that the coach left. I found out when I was in Ghana and the press were asking me about it. All I can say is that it's football. We have to put this aside and concentrate on what is ahead. For any coach or anybody who is going to lead us for the next game we have to show the same respect we did to Steve Bruce."