Conor Hourihane apologised to his team-mates for missing the vital penalty in defeat to Southend on Saturday but Adam Davies says he didn't have to.

Captain Hourihane dragged the spot-kick wide when trying to equalise in a game the Reds eventually lost 2-0, ending a run of six successive home league wins.

"Conor has pulled us out of trouble so many times," Davies told the Chronicle.

"He said sorry to us but there is no need for that. He has scored big goals and given big performances for us so many times in the past and I am sure he will do that again in the run-in this season."

Hourihane has now missed his last two league penalties – the previous one was against Sheffield United in November – but netted spot-kicks during shoot-outs in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy wins at Wigan and Fleetwood.

Davies was the hero in both of those cup games, with three penalty saves in total, and the goalkeeper is looking forward to returning tomorrow to Fleetwood where he enjoyed the 'best day of his career' in the Northern Area final of the JPT last month. Davies hopes there will be more joy for the Reds at Highbury as they look to get back on track after falling out of the top six on Saturday.

The 23-year-old stopper said: "There is a lot of football to play and there will be a lot of ups and downs. "It is crazy because we were rock bottom three or four months ago. We're just focusing on ourselves and not on what other teams are doing.

"It's still in our hands. We just need to bounce back at Fleetwood and keep the run going. There are a few players who were here last season when we got in the play-offs about this time then fell away. Now we are all more experienced and more prepared to deal with being up there.

"We were disappointed to lose against Southend. Our start was sloppy and we fell behind. We came back into it but just couldn't get the goal then their second goal was frustrating."