Sourced from Daily Echo article
Forster talks about his form this season - and tries to forget Palace howler
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FRASER Forster is focused on keeping his Selhurst Park howler to the back of his mind as he tries to keep a second clean sheet in four days against in-form Crystal Palace.
The Saints goalkeeper’s gaffe in the 3-0 defeat at Palace in December, when his missed kick from Jose Fonte’s back pass gifted the ball to Christian Benteke, was one of the lowest points of his career.
But after apologising to his teammates he responded with back-to-back clean sheets in Saints’ next two Premier League games.
“If a keeper makes a mistake nine times out of ten it’s a goal so you put it behind you, there’s no point in beating yourself up about it,” he said.
“You’re a human who plays football and there’s not one person on the planet who’s not made a mistake.
“It’s been and gone, when it happens you move on.”
Forster kept another clean sheet in the draw against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday, Saints’ first at St Mary’s since Virgil van Dijk suffered his potential season-ending injury in the 3-0 win against Leicester City in January.
It was Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida’s third clean sheet together since replacing Van Dijk and Fonte.
“Jack Stephens is a very good young player and this experience will only help him moving forward,” said Forster.
“He’s been fantastic since the first game he came in and has formed a really good partnership with Maya.
“Those two have been brilliant.”
Saints full-backs Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares have also been excellent. “Berty’s a top England international now and Cedric has done really well,” continued Forster.
“They’re four great lads and that makes it even easier. They’ve been awesome, a really good foundation for the team to build on.”
His Selhurst Park aberration apart, Forster says he has been “relatively happy” with his own form this season, “I’ve been working hard on trying to improve but it’s been a bit of a strange season at times,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of games where there might have been one shot and it’s gone in the corner and you come off thinking I haven’t had a lot to do but conceded a goal.”
Asked what his best saves of the season have been, Forster added: “I’m not one for looking back. Now it’s all about having a strong end. We want a top-ten finish.
“Coming back from internationals is always tough but confidence is pretty high. The next few games are very important, we still need points to make sure we can catch the teams above us.”
Palace will be of the same mindset tonight. Sam Allardyce’s side - second bottom of the table back in mid February - will go level on points with Saints if they make it five wins in a row, following their stunning 2-1 success at Chelsea on Saturday,when Benteke scored his third Premier League goal since his brace against Forster four months ago.
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