Phoenix losses just a blip, says Taylor

Steven Taylor has been on the wrong end of a few long losing streaks in football.

The Wellington Phoenix defender was twice relegated from the English Premier League during his 13 years with Newcastle United.

That career included playing in what was then a club Premier League-record six-match losing streak at the end of the 2013-14 season, before watching on from the sidelines as the 2014-15 squad broke that record with seven losses in a row.

So yesterday when he described the Phoenix’s threematch losing streak as a ‘‘blip’’, one felt inclined to believe him.

‘‘I said at the start of the season we’ll go through a blip. This is a little blip that we’ve had, a few defeats, but nothing to concern us with the group that we’ve got.’’

Following their 3-1 loss to Adelaide United on Saturday, coach Mark Rudan said his team’s mentality remained a big area for improvement. It came after his side came into the changing rooms at halftime with their heads down after conceding an own goal just before halftime to take the score to 1-1.

Taylor said they needed to be better at not letting those sorts of moments in games get to them.

‘‘From our [players] point of view we’ve got to deal with what’s happened. You’ve got to forget about the goal, don’t dwell on it, because the repeat will happen if you keep dwelling on it.’’

Taylor said his advice to the rest of the squad about how to move on from the run of losses was to not get too bogged down thinking about previous matches.