Cambridge United boss Neil Harris after derby defeat to Peterborough United: ‘Have they got the passion and the drive and the hunger to win games of football? Well clearly not’

With relegation looking increasingly inevitable, Neil Harris has outlined what he wants to see from his Cambridge United players during the final nine games of the season.

Today’s 1-0 Cambridgeshire derby defeat to Peterborough United has left the U’s staring down the barrel of League Two football next season, with the gap to safety having grown to 12 points.

And in what was a passionate post-match chat with the media, Harris questioned the current squad’s ‘passion and the drive and the hunger to win games of football’.

He said: “What I want to see is players that want to play for their futures, that want to play for this football club and want to represent this football club.

“I need that application and attitude, but I need a better culture. I need better standards at the training ground – that’s from staff and players.

“It’s their livelihoods, it’s their jobs but it’s also their passion and their hobby as well.

“They have to show me, they have to show us, they have to show the footballing industry that they’re worthy of places at football clubs.

“I like working with the group, I like their application in so much. But application isn’t always enough. It’s accepted in the sense of being a good lad with a good attitude – you want to work with good people like that.

“But you’ve got to have the killer instinct as well in both boxes. You’ve got to have the drive and the determination. That’s what sets levels – it’s what levels are in football.

“Players that play in the National League and League Two, it’s because they’re missing something. Sometimes it’s because they’re not quick enough, sometimes they’re not technical enough and sometimes they just haven’t got the heart for it.

“That’s what I’m seeing in the group at the moment and that’s what I question about this group. Have they got the passion and the drive and the hunger to win games of football? Well clearly not.”