Eckert: Derby day means everything to us
Tonda Eckert wants his Southampton players to “embrace the emotions” of the south coast derby, admitting it is not the same as any other game.
Saints have waited 21 years for a win over Portsmouth at St Mary’s, and have not taken three points on derby day home or away since, with all four league meetings since 2004/05 ending in draws.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Eckert was not prepared to downplay the fixture, insisting his players must rise to the occasion on Sunday (midday BST kick-off).
“It means everything to the football club, it means everything to the supporters,” he said.
“You can’t treat this game like a normal game, but at the same time what it has in common is that we need to make sure we get our football on the pitch, and that is exclusively down to us.
“We have shown time and time again, especially at home, how good we can be and how we are capable of playing.
“That will be the challenge: to embrace all of the emotions that come with it, which will give us something extra, definitely, and to make sure that we play our football.”
Saints have won all four of their Sky Bet Championship home matches so far this season, scoring 15 goals along the way.
Portsmouth come into the game 19th in the table, but have conceded only three goals in their three away matches to date, taking four points on the road.
“Good team,” Eckert acknowledged. “They’re very solid and don’t give you too much. When you look into how much they’ve conceded this year and how much they’ve given away, it’s not a lot. They are very solid defensively.
“They’ve played Chelsea in the international break and beat them 2-0, so even that shows they are able to compete on a higher level.
“But in the end this is a game that we play at St Mary’s. We’ve shown time and time again that this is our place. We need to make sure that we protect that on Sunday.”
