Elliott: Bristol City don't fear Saints
Midfield enforcer Elliott believes City have been guilty of showing opponents too much respect on occasions, notably in games against promotion favourites Birmingham, Wolves and Reading.
And he is determined there will no repeat when the Robins take on Southampton in front of the Sky TV cameras in this evening's tea-time kick-off at St Mary's (5.20pm).
"You always have to go out believing you can win the game," declared Elliott.
"Sometimes that hasn't happened and we've maybe shown other teams too much respect.
"It's okay to give them respect, but you mustn't fear them.
"You have to try and play your football and not worry too much about the opposition.
"Of course, you have to know about them and we always work on that. But we also have to believe in ourselves."
City certainly seemed to pay Reading too much respect last weekend and were punished in full as the Royals left Ashton Gate with the points following a comprehensive 4-1 success.
In a brutally honest assessment of his team's shortcomings on the day, manager Gary Johnson suggested some of the players might have adopted the wrong mindset against opponents who were plying their trade in the Premier League last season.
"There is no reason for any of us to go out there with the wrong attitude and I think that's a poor excuse when you lose," said Elliott.
"We can't afford to carry any passengers and we have to be prepared to die for the cause. Losing to Reading hurt our professional pride.
"It's not nice, especially when you know you could have beaten them.
"That sounds silly now, but then hindsight is a marvellous thing and we have to look forward and not back.
"They say you're only as good as your last performance and our last performance was poor. We've trained hard this week and we're all determined to put things right against Southampton."
City may have slipped out of the play-off positions after failing to win any of their last three games, but Elliott insists promotion is still an attainable goal.
He said: "The sky is the limit as far as this team is concerned. If you don't aim high, then you're almost certain to fail.
"We still believe we can win promotion and we're not prepared to limit our expectations in any way."
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