Southampton’s Kamaldeen insists he does not have a ‘bad attitude’

SAINTS winger Kamaldeen Sulemana feels he has been unfairly labelled as a player with a “bad attitude” and wants to set the record straight.

Kamaldeen disagrees with that suggestion and has opened up on the pressures he has faced during his time at Southampton.

The Ghana international has kickstarted his Saints career under Ivan Juric, becoming a key player for the Croatian manager.

His transformation follows a difficult spell under former boss Russell Martin, which saw him rarely used.

“There is a lot of misunderstanding,” Kamaldeen insisted in Southampton’s matchday programme. “I was out for two months and I came back and there’s expectations.

“I am the transfer record, so on my first day back I was expected to be the best player on the pitch. That’s when the pressure kicks in.

“I felt like sometimes I was alone in a battle. I get a lot of stick, I get a lot of bad comments and some people question my character.”

He continued: “There are so many things I’ve seen out there, people think I’ve got an attitude problem and that’s the reason why I wasn’t playing.

“But I’ve never, ever disrespected anybody in the club. I’m always on time. When I’m on the pitch I work as hard as I can.”

Kamaldeen asserted that he has had to work harder than others in order to get a chance, especially after being branded with a bad attitude.

“I even work better at it given the situation because I knew I had to work double if I was to get a chance,” he outlined. “I never really played but I was always giving my best.

“When I see stuff like ‘he’s got an attitude problem,’ I don’t know where that’s coming from.

“When it comes from people with followings and they look like trusted journalists, when they bring something out that isn’t true, everyone picks up on it.

“The whole fanbase is falling for their tricks. They tend to be harder on you just because they’ve heard you have a bad attitude.

“There is nothing to show you have a bad attitude, they’ve just heard it from a source that they trust.

“At the training ground, the coaches are telling me that I’m training good and the players tell me I’m training good.