The Ivory Coast international admitted that he is a ‘terrible loser’ and that the emotion of the derby defeat was still raw but stressed that the best way to move on was by setting up another winning sequence.
However, he is determined that lessons should be learned from the 4-3 reverse at Old Trafford and that there must never be a repeat of what happened in the closing moments of the game.
“Fulham gives us the chance to get back on the winning trail and show another side to our character,” he declared.
The Carling Cup is very important to us and we are now 100 per cent focused on the tie tomorrow night. Winning a trophy of any description is a fantastic feeling and that is what we want to do.
...Kolo Toure
“I wasn’t surprised when the manager sent out such a strong side for the last round at Crystal Palace because we have a lot of new players and it gave us more valuable on the pitch time to gel as a team. We did the job well that night and hopefully we will reproduce that tomorrow. We want to show everyone that we are one of the best teams in the competition.”
Toure has eased the pain of a first defeat in his new colours by perusing the league table.
“When you look at the league table we are still in fourth place and it has been a really good start but with the team we have and with the spirit in the club we should not be surprised and we need to carry on making sure we are at the top every week,” he asserted.
“We just need to keep going. The fact that we have played Arsenal and United in successive games and scored seven goals is a good sign of the potential that we have to get into the top places. We know that we have great expectation on us and we are all striving to live up to that.”
One man who has done exactly that is keeper Shay Given for whom the captain had a special word of praise.
“Shay has been different class,” he stressed. “I think he is the best goalkeeper in the Premier League. He was unbelieveable at Old Trafford. What he brings, like several of the other signings this summer, is a maturity and an experience that we need to harness for the good of the team.
“When you come back three times like we did in the derby and score in the 90th minute you should not lose no matter how much time is added on. We showed a lack of experience and concentration and must not let it happen again.
“When you want to be at the top and one of the best teams in the world there are mistakes that you have to avoid making and we didn’t do that on Sunday. We should have all been stuck in our box defending at the end. Lessons have to be learned because good players and good times don’t make the same mistake twice. We have to show tomorrow night that we have learned.”
