NIGEL Adkins has recently said that one of the hardest things in football is winning after winning – and that goes not only for teams but for individual players as well.

The pressure and expectation on a star performer to always be able to be produce the very top of their form, to help lift their side and their teammates can be a very heavy burden to carry.

Even the very best in the world cannot be at their pinnacle every single time they step out onto the pitch.

But if you are the team’s talisman then the expectation is there from the whole football world – your fans, teammates, the media – that you do it again and again.

And it is particularly underlined because once a star performer is not at the top of their game the team as whole normally has a dip in form.

Often sides with such an exceptional leader come to rely on them very heavily, the way they play can be built around this one person and their unique style. So when they are not firing on all cylinders then the team as a whole can struggle.

The ultimate in high profile cases this season has been Wayne Rooney at Manchester United but the same has been said of Rickie Lambert.

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There are plenty of clear differences between the two, of coure – many of Rooney’s problems at United appear to stem from off the field allegations about his private life that may have adversely affected his form and relationships with club management.

Lambert is not of that ilk at all –a broken pre-season due to injury affected his fitness and then he has struggled to get to the superb levels of his previous campaign at St Mary’s.

However, it is interesting to contrast and compare how you handle a bit of a dip in form of a star man as a manager.

Alex Ferguson has taken the decision to leave Rooney out of the side altogether while he assesses the United striker.

That opens a manager up for very easy criticism if the team does not go on and win.

The other alternative is to keep playing them in the belief that these guys are too good not to turn things around.

That has pretty much been the approach with Lambert – and the stats back up that it isn’t necessarily a bad idea.

People believe Lambert is in poor form because he hasn’t got a glut of goals so far this season.

However, though he has only one from open play, he has still bagged five.

What is not fully recognised by many is that after 11 league games in Saints colours last season Lambert had netted six goals – just one more than he has after the equivalent number of games this campaign.

Last year he still ended up with over 30 come the final reckoning.

And Lambert also contributes to the team in so many other ways.

Without him Saints lack somebody to play direct to. He’s a strong physical presence and is good enough to link play on the ground as well which makes him vital to Saints if they are to mix up their style a bit.

In short, he offers a lot more than goals.

It can be so hard for a talisman.

They do get so much of the glory and the adulation when things are going well but the pressures on them are truly immense and largely unreasonable.

But here’s betting Lambert hits consistent top form again before Rooney.