Published: Thursday, 28th January, 2010 1:00pm

Griffin ready for lead role in relegation battle

by Anthony Smith

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Up for the fight: Andy Griffin is ready to roll up his sleeves and fight for Reading's Championship survival.

ANDY Griffin has spoken of the lead role he must play in the Royals' dressing room in their bid to escape relegation.

Griffin is one of three senior players signed on loan by boss Brian McDermott during the January transfer window along with Gunnar Thorvaldsson from Danish side Esbjerg and Zurab Khizanishvili from Blackburn Rovers.

Griffin is here until the end of the season from Stoke City and he insists he is ready to roll up his sleeves for the survival battle ahead of Saturday's crucial home fixture against Barnsley (3pm ko), which will mark McDermott's first game as permanent manager.

And the 30-year-old right-back is convinced the extra experience the new trio can offer McDermott's struggling side could be the difference between staying up and going down.

"It's a very young team with a lot of inexperience," he explained. "But the thing you get with inexperience is bundles of enthusiasm.

"They're a very grounded lot for such a young team. The manager has brought me in to add some experience and hopefully I can take that onto the pitch and bring that into the dressing room.

"Communication is so important and I want to try to carry the lads along. But they are good players and in football you learn very quickly."

Griffin has tasted plenty of success and failure during his career from scoring the winning goal for Newcastle United against Juventus in the Champions League to losing an FA Cup final to Manchester United with the Magpies.

And he says there is one crucial ingredient Reading need if they are to avoid the drop into League One after eight years in the top two divisions.

"The biggest thing for any player or team is self-confidence," he argued. "You can be a great, great side but individually if the players haven't got confidence you will not be as good as you should be.

"So perhaps a bit of confidence has been lacking. It is a very young side but I have a lot of confidence in our players to get out of the situation we're in.

"A club like Reading shouldn't be where it is - but it is and it's as simple as that."

Tuesday night's 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United left the Royals second bottom of the Championship and four points adrift of Crystal Palace who drop to 21st position following their 10 point deduction for going into administration.

And Griffin feels that the next month or so will be a massive one in their bid for survival.

McDermott's men face potential six-pointers against Barnsley, Plymouth Argyle, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday all at home as well as a tasty clash against Griffin's old club Newcastle, the current Championship leaders.

And two vital away trips at Doncaster Rovers and Scunthorpe United also stand out as must-win fixtures, or at least must-not-lose.

"I think we're going into a very crucial period for the football club," Griffin admitted.

"But you've just got to try and take belief and confidence into it.

"We've played two Premier League sides in the FA Cup and won. To go to Liverpool and get a win says a lot about the quality of the team.

"But it's no good putting in a decent performance then a bad one and kind of yo-yoing.

"There are no easy games. It's a very tough, demanding league but we're confident we can get out of trouble."