Eckert: Larin is "sacrificing" so much for the team

With seven goals in seven Championship games following Saturday’s brace against Bristol City, Larin is the highest scorer in England’s top four divisions.

His form is even more impressive given his shortened summer break, having spent five weeks away with Canada at the World Cup and rejoining Saints just in time to play at Colchester in the Carabao Cup first round, where he would score the first of his eight goals in all competitions so far this season.

“I think he is happy to have some recovery days now – it’s been a big push for him,” Eckert said, speaking after the 4-1 win over the Robins.

“He came from a short pre-season after a long World Cup – a big highlight in the summer – so what he is doing and how much he is sacrificing at the moment is everything that you can wish for.

“If you have a striker who scores goals and has confidence, you score goals like these ones as well,” Eckert said of Larin’s sumptous left-footed opener against City. “There is no doubt he has the quality, but for a No. 9 a little bit of confidence never hurts.”

The head coach also hailed the contributions of Kuryu Matsuki, who followed up his game-clinching assist against Swansea with a game-clinching goal on Saturday, and Divin Mubama, who replaced Larin before setting up Finn Azaz for Saints’ fourth against City.

“Divin is so important for us. He has so much hunger in him, and big, big credit to him for the way he came on,” Eckert added.

“Kuryu played less minutes midweek [against Swansea]. We knew we were going to need his energy and I think he has helped us over those moments – especially in the second half, and managed to close the game with his goal.

“I think there are a couple of things, in terms of the structure, that we need to improve. A little bit of that comes down to energy levels today, which I think is completely normal after a long block.

“We’re going to recover now, and then it’s one more big push against Wrexham, and then off to the international break.”