Eckert: The energy was top
Tonda Eckert hailed “a very good 90 minutes” from his Southampton side, praising Saints’ energy in the victory over Blackburn at St Mary’s.
Saints enjoyed complete control of the first half, leading 2-0 at the interval through goals from Cyle Larin and Ryan Manning.
Cameron Archer, who created Larin’s opener, added a late third, as Saints chalked up a seventh successive win in all competitions, extending their unbeaten run to 18 matches in the process.
“Very happy,” Eckert said of his team’s performance. “The energy was top from the very first minute, I think we had the chance to go up even earlier.
“If you play shape on shape against the ball, you need to be fresh, you need to make sure there is not too much time on the ball for the other team to think.
“I think that always starts from the front line, and I think they have all worked so, so hard today to maintain that rhythm of the game.
“It does open up sometimes a little bit quicker in possession if you are able to maintain a rhythm, and I think the boys have done that very well.
“And a clean sheet today – that’s been something we’ve been working on a lot that we didn’t manage to get in the last games, so even more happy that we managed to get through that game without conceding a goal today. I think it was a very good 90 minutes.”
Saints’ night got even better with news of Ipswich’s defeat at Portsmouth, as Saints cut the gap on the automatic promotion places to three points.
But Eckert refused to be drawn on the bigger picture of the league table, as his focus immediately switched to Saturday’s trip to Swansea.
“It doesn’t take you anywhere – no matter what I say it doesn’t mean anything,” he said of the promotion race.
“I know it sounds boring, but it’s the only way for us. We just need to stay humble and stay with us – it’s such a big game on Saturday that’s going to require a big, big distance that we are ready to cover, and that’s the only focus.”
