Armstrong: Clean sheet is huge
Match-winner Stuart Armstrong hailed the importance of a first clean sheet of the season as Southampton came away from Stoke with a 1-0 win on Tuesday night.
The Scotsman opened his account in stunning fashion just before the break, curling a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner in what transpired to be the only goal of the game.
Defending their lead resolutely after the restart, Armstrong highlighted the importance of a first shutout of the season.
“Really pleased with how it went,” he began. “It could’ve gone better. I think if we got the second goal it would’ve been a lot more comfortable for us and we could’ve seen the game out with a bit less stress, but having said that, even though we were defending for the majority of the second half, I thought we dealt with it really well.
“The clean sheet is huge for us and back-to-back wins is even bigger, so if we can get some momentum and rhythm into our game and get another win on Saturday, that’s three really positive results after a disappointing last month.
“Not every single game is going to be nice football and controlling. Ultimately that’s what we want and that’s what we are aiming to do, but in this league that’s really tough and teams have different qualities, are very physical and play direct football.
“I’m really proud of us tonight to be able to secure the win, keep a clean sheet and fight for every single point, as we’re going to have to in this season.”
With James Ward-Prowse departing in the summer, Armstrong admitted he’s had a long wait to stand over Saints’ set-pieces.
“I had to wait five years for one! Obviously, having the privilege of watching him score free-kick after free-kick for all those years, I thought ‘what would he do?’ when I was lining up and yeah, it was a really nice connection, really nice to see it go in the back of the net and more importantly really nice to get the three points, so very, very happy with how that went.”
