Eckert hails "humble" Ward-Prowse
Tonda Eckert has hailed James Ward-Prowse’s humble approach to his Southampton homecoming, praising the returning midfielder’s impact on the pitch.
The 31-year-old has already played six games since signing from West Ham at the end of August, starting the last four of those.
Ward-Prowse scored his first Saints goal in more than three years at Wrexham on Saturday, his 56th for the club in total, prompting Eckert to praise the way he’s settled back into life at St Mary’s.
“I think he’s come in very humble,” he said. “Obviously he has a history with the club, and I think he does it in a very respectful way, coming back in
“I think his performances speak for themselves. He’s had a big impact for us, and I’m very happy with the way he’s settled in.”
Saints find themselves in the unusual position of having three weeks without a fixture following the 2-1 defeat in North Wales, a result that ended a six-match unbeaten run in the Championship.
Eckert revealed the team will continue to train as normal this week, take their rest in the second week, and then return ready to prepare for the south coast derby at St Mary’s against Portsmouth on Sunday 11th October (midday BST).
“Obviously we would’ve wanted, for us and for everyone who travelled with us, to come home with a different result,” he said, speaking after the game on Saturday.
“I still think there are some positives to take away from the performance, but at the moment it hurts because we didn’t get the result we wanted. We’re going to shake this off and make sure we have a good start after the break.
“We have a whole week now, so we continue with a friendly on Friday, and then we make sure we recover in the second week and have a proper run up for a very big and important game after the break.”
