Chelsea striker Havertz: I do need to look at myself and maybe I need to show the desire a little bit more

Kai Havertz  doesn’t appear to be a navel-gazer by nature, but he will be taking a bit of time to think about his striking options as Chelsea look to take on Southampton at St Mary’s tonight

The German failed to hit the back of the net against Leicester in the 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge at the weekend, but reckons that while he doesn’t need to be more selfish, he does need to work on his game.

He said about the possibility of becoming more selfish: “No, it is a team sport and I am a team player. I don’t go home and think I am unhappy because I didn’t score, I am more happy that we won in the end. But I do need to look at myself and maybe I need to show the desire a little bit more. I will keep on working hard and I believe it will come.

“As a striker, you always have to run in behind and I can use my ability to do that as well.

“Sometimes it is about milliseconds, to get the pass and to be calm in front of goal, and I can rely on my fellow players to give me these balls. We keep on working hard and I think next time I will try to score.

“It is not about luck. I didn’t have a shot on target. I need to score. I know this, my job is to score. I want to score and I play to score and I will keep on working. I hope to do it tonight.

“The pressure is always there when you play up front, you can always feel it. My game is not only about scoring goals, it is about helping the team with other qualities and I try to do that as well.”

As for the game against the Foxes when Conor Gallagher was sent off after 28 minutes, Havertz  said: “If  you have a man down it is tough against any opponent. We went into half time and thought, okay, we have to do another tactical plan and in the end it worked. That’s good.”

Both goals were scored by new boy Raheem Sterling, Havertz said of his striking partner: “We are all delighted for him. You can see in every training session how much work and effort he puts in, and he just deserves it.

“It is nice to play with him. He has lot of experience and knows how to move, and it helps you a lot if you have such experienced players next to you. His style of play suits us very well.

“We needed goals, he scored two goals in the end and that’s the most important thing. In the end, I think he did well and he helped us a lot.

“It is very exciting (having a player like that around). We have played four games and he has shown his quality again. Sometimes it takes a bit of time to adapt 100 per cent, but he has adapted very fast and we can build on that in the future.”

One player Havertz misses at Chelsea is fellow German Timo Werner.

He said: “He is a friend of mine. I wish him the best and we will stay close together.”

Pictured top. Kai Havertz. picture: Paul Lagan