Mac: I'm not fearing the chop (From Croydon Guardian)

Mac: I'm not fearing the chop

10:02am Monday 27th July 2009

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Brian McDermott insists he is not concerned about getting the axe despite seeing his Harlequins RL side fall to their sixth consecutive defeat last weekend.

Saturday’s 44-24 defeat at the hands of St Helens at the Stoop saw Quins slide out of the play-off places for the first time this season.

But despite that sobering fact McDermott angrily denied suggestions he was looking anxiously over his shoulder.

He said: “I don’t feel that way at all.

“The day I start to fear for my future is the day I walk out of that door.

“I do sometimes doubt myself as a coach but if any coach in this league does not say that then they are lying.

“Of course we are on a bad run and it is my job to sort that out, but I really don’t think we are that far away.

“We have a strong group of players here and they are all just as disappointed as I am.

“In fact I am pretty proud of this bunch actually - they could easily have let their heads drop but everyone is still positive.”

The Londoners were dispatched by a ruthless first-half display that saw Saints lead 34-0 at the interval on Saturday, before a second-half rally saw Gareth Haggerty, Chad Robinson, Danny Ward and Matt Gafa cross for consolation scores.

McDermott added: “We really did not perform in the first 10-15 minutes and that gave St Helens the platform.

“There are just too many things that we are doing wrong at the moment - things that cannot be corrected overnight.

“But we showed a bit of grit in the second half and that gives us something to build on.”

Quins now head to Bradford for a must-win fixture this weekend as they look to salvage their flagging play-off hopes.

And with Chad Randall, David Howell and Danny Orr likely to start, McDermott vows all is not lost.

He added: “I am 100 per cent convinced that we are still going to make the play-offs.

“The strike players are slowly coming back and that gives us the impetus we are missing - so there is plenty of reason for optimism.”

Harlequins RL’s next three matches: Aug 2 Bradford (a), 8 Bradford (h), 15 Salford (h )

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