Sheffield Wednesday captain, Darren Purse, has pledged to do all in his power to retain his starting shirt at Hillsborough.

The skipper, by his own admission, has turned in below par displays of late, leading to speculation that he could drop to the bench when the Owls resume their Championship campaign against Coventry City next weekend.

But Purse insists he will take the criticism squarely on the chin - as the whole team should following the dismal defeat at Derby County last time out.

He told Wednesday Player: "We took criticism and if you don't take the criticism the right way, you shouldn't be in football. You are there to be shot at and when you do mistakes, they are out there, they're in the papers and the fans have their say. That's something you have to live with and you have to take that criticism on the chin.

"The bottom line is that silly little mistakes through the early part of the season have cost us goals. I'm probably the biggest culprit and when you make a mistake you get hammered for it, that's the way football is. If I make a mistake, I seem to get punished for it right now but again, that's the way football can be sometimes.

"If you hide away, mistakes can keep happening so I have to knuckle down, work hard and hopefully there's won't be too many more for the rest of the season."

Purse accepts that he has not performed to the peak of his ability since signing for Wednesday on a free transfer over the summer. But the 32-year-old has vowed to keep working overtime in a bid to kickstart his S6 stint.

He reasoned: "Obviously, as a defender, there will be mistakes. If you're a forward and you give the ball away you tend to get away with it but as defender you don't. Defenders are judged on the mistakes that are made and in recent games I haven't been good enough.

"When I came into the club at the beginning of the season, it was said that I would be the person to sort the defence out and I probably haven't lived up to everybody's expectation. I'm big enough to say that and the only way to rectify it is to work hard - as I have always done throughout my career - and hopefully there will be a chance there for me to put it right against Coventry.

" If not, then I will continue to work hard until the next chance comes, hopefully sooner rather than later. Nobody is 'undroppable', nobody is bigger than the side and nobody is bigger than the football club, it's as simple as that. I just hope I will be in the side against Coventry but if not, I will take it on the chin and then it's how you bounce back. It's a decision that the gaffer has to make."

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