Eckert: Teams need to know St Mary's is "our ground"
Tonda Eckert is determined to turn St Mary’s into a fortress after seeing Southampton win their third successive home game under his stewardship.
Saints continued their happy habit of making the breakthrough early and going on to score three goals, repeating the recipe that had brought success against Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester in recent weeks, as Birmingham were beaten 3-1 at St Mary’s.
Finn Azaz scored inside six minutes, while Adam Armstrong added goals either side of half time, including four minutes after Birmingham had pulled one back early in the second period, puncturing the renewed belief of the visitors in the process.
“I asked the players again: we play at St Mary’s, so we leave everything on the pitch,” Eckert said.
“This just needs to become more and more ‘our ground’ for teams that come here to know there’s nothing to take away, and I think we’ve started strong again.
“There are [difficult] spells in the game – and every single game has that – that you need to get over, but I think we managed that quite well for the most part.
“St Mary’s has been great again today. We know that we have our supporters behind us and that gives us energy right from the start. We will try to continue that on Tuesday.”
Saints’ front three of Azaz, Armstrong and Leo Scienza, who returned from injury to start, were a constant threat, but Eckert was keen to praise the attackers’ less celebrated teammates.
“They have been great again, but I try to repeat that it is a team effort in the end,” he added.
“In order to make somebody shine you also need someone who carries the piano, and we have enough of those behind. Sometimes they are not as much in the spotlight, but just as important.”
A limited number of Men's Half Season Tickets are now available. Don't miss a minute of the action across the second half of the season, beginning with the visit of Hull City to St Mary's in January, with prices starting from around £21 per match.
