Senior Southampton figure offers rallying call after disappointing Lincoln draw

Southampton's match with Lincoln City on Saturday lunchtime was 65 years in the making.

Indeed, it had been that long since the Saints and the Imps had butted heads in league action, and the final scoreline would end up being 1-1, due to Mikkel Ladefoged - the brand-new Danish brute for the Championship hosts - heading home an 87th minute equaliser.

It was a sloppy goal to give up, with Nathan Wood failing to keep tabs on the hard to miss 6 foot 8 giant, with Welington's first half screamer much more deserving of the winning the overall game.

At the full-time whistle, Flynn Downes would speak to the media, with the experienced number four annoyed at the throwaway nature of the performance, while offering a rallying cry for the matches ahead, so these wobbly displays don't keep troubling the promotion chasers.

Downes' rallying cry

Before a ball had even been kicked this season, Downes was vocal about Southampton's intentions.

The one-time West Ham United midfielder was clear that he wanted to lift the Championship title, come the end of the gruelling 46-game campaign, but giving up goals like Ladefoged's equaliser will make that a hard mission to complete.

Speaking after the game, Downes made several points about the unsatisfactory draw at Sincil Bank, stating: "We can’t have that mindset of trying to protect it [the lead], because you saw what happened today.

“We knew how Lincoln were going to play. They were going to go long, make it physical and compete for first and second balls. That’s not us, and we knew we would get beaten if we got caught up in that.

“We’ve got to step up. The lads on the pitch and the boys coming on, all of us have got to step up. We haven’t got time for that.”

Further noting that he was "fuming" with the final result, it's evident that Downes wants the standards to be raised, with two wins from their opening five second tier matches not exactly Championship winning material.

The passionate number four would escape a lot of the criticism himself, when assessing how Tonda Eckert's men played, as he continues to give the Saints some much-needed bite and fight as a midfield engine.

He is a very important part of Eckert's group

Currently, Downes is likely one of the first names on Eckert's teamsheet.

He gave his all once more during the Lincoln draw, even if other first teamers let the side down, with six duels won, and only two of his 62 passes going astray.

Winning a mighty ten tackles and duels during the Birmingham City draw as well, it's clear that Eckert has more pressing problems when it comes to his first team picture than the tenacious 27-year-old.

Downes will hope, because he's considered such an important, senior member of the group, that his battle cry after the flat Imps draw, will see a much improved performance put in overall against Swansea City on Tuesday night.

He won't need much to be pumped up for this contest, as he faces his former side, with Downes ready to launch himself into tackles and duels galore, once more.

A win has to be picked up so Southampton can start to catch up with the playoff pack, as Downes rightly said that "draws kill you" when you have significant ground to make up.

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