Armstrong: Not good enough
Adam Armstrong provided an honest assessment of a painful afternoon for Southampton at Middlesbrough.
Newcastle-born Armstrong led the team on his return to the north east as captain in a game in which Saints threatened to score first on multiple occasions, as Flynn Downes, Tom Fellows and Armstrong himself all had notable opportunities.
But Morgan Whittaker’s 54th-minute opener proved to be the first of four goals in 22 minutes for a Boro side who reclaimed second spot in the Championship table in emphatic style.
“Not good enough,” Armstrong reflected. “I’ve touched on it before in a few interviews; first half we have to punish.
“That’s where we’re at; we need a bit of luck on our side at the minute and we have to go in front early doors. When you don’t do that in this league, you get punished.
“Second half was just flat. We didn’t come out going for them or anything, and then it’s a sloppy goal for the first one – a lack of communication, switching off, and their guy gets a free hit at goal. The way we reacted to that wasn’t good enough all over the pitch, myself included.
“It’s a tough one to take because we’ve had a lot of games come up recently, we’ve taken every game to the best of our ability to go and put it on to the pitch, but today we weren’t good enough. We have to go again.”
Boro have been flying high all season but seen their confidence knocked by a four-match winless run ahead of the game, which Armstrong felt enhanced the importance of Saints scoring first at an anxious Riverside Stadium.
“We knew the quality that they have and we know the quality we have, and to get that first goal was going to be a big one,” he added.
“I thought we should’ve got it first half, but when you don’t get it, you have to go again. Everyone has to regroup and go again, and we didn’t quite do that.
“We haven’t been putting in the performances, and that’s on ourselves. It’s a tough one to take today because we knew we had to come here and win. When you don’t do that, you feel sorry for everyone who’s travelled up. It’s a long way to come on a new year, and we’re very upset. We weren’t good enough, it’s as simple as that.”
