Southampton: Hasenhuttl on ‘fantastic’ part of Saints display at Newcastle

Southampton let their slim lead slip against Newcastle to eventually lose 2-1, but that didn’t stop manager Ralph Hasenhuttl praising his side’s pressing.

The Austrian’s players created the best chances of the game but were left to rue poor finishing as Newcastle turned the game around.

Losing saw Saints’ three-game unbeaten run end and they must now pick up points against West Ham and Aston Villa to lift themselves back out of the Premier League’s relegation zone.

Speaking to southamptonfc.com post-match on Sunday, Hasenhuttl said:

"“It’s not so easy to create chances away from home, but we were aggressive especially when we lost the ball. Counter pressing was fantastic today. It’s football, sometimes in the moment it is very frustrating for us. It was a big chance today for three points, three wins in a week would be unbelievable. Six points this week, I’ll take, but I think when you see this game more points were possible.”"

Hasenhuttl must now make sure that his squad is focused on the tasks that await them in the upcoming weeks over the Christmas period.

Finishing and defending had been good as they claimed seven points from three games against Arsenal, Watford and Norwich recently, but the standards slipped again in the North-East.

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Efforts on goal seemed to be rushed – Nathan Redmond and Ryan Bertrand particularly guilty in missing big chances – whilst lapses at the back saw Jonjo Shelvey with a free header to equalise and Federico Fernandez react faster than any Saints defender to snatch the winner.

Changes in personnel may be expected given that December features so many games, but Hasenhuttl may consider changes with a couple of players looking out of sorts.

Redmond looked brighter against Newcastle but is struggling to contribute with goals and assists, whilst Sofiane Boufal perhaps deserves a start once he recovers fully from his toe injury.

Cedric has also looked weak at full-back and could become an easy area of the team for the opposition to target on a weekly basis, so will Yan Valery get a chance to prove his ability once again?

The January transfer window is just around the corner too and Saints will be looking to add if they can – even though any players that they bring in won’t be able to help them in the most crucial games up to the end of December.

Defensive additions will surely be top of the bill, whilst a creative midfielder and an extra striker would be an extra bonus.