Eckert: We didn't deal with the game in a proper way
Tonda Eckert was left ruing a point that got away from his Southampton side, as hosts Millwall emerged victorious in the dying embers of an enthralling second half at The Den.
Goalless at the interval, the interim manager praised the way his team came out in the second period, winning a free-kick that led to the corner from which Adam Armstrong fired Saints in front, but Millwall hit back with two long-range goals to turn the game on its head.
When Finn Azaz poached his fifth goal in four games with three minutes left, Eckert says he would have been happy to take home a point, but saw his side stung by the latest of winners scored by Millwall’s Tristan Crama in the last of seven added minutes.
“It’s a very tough one to take today,” Eckert reflected. “We knew it was not going to be easy to come here, I think the second half was quite open at a certain point, to go in both directions, and then you just have to take a game over the line, take a point and everything is good. We didn’t manage to do that, so for the moment it’s a tough one to accept.
“I think that we came out quite well in the first half and then they just increased the pressure, so we needed to adjust a little bit.
“I think the way we played to then come out to the free-kick, to come out to the corner and come out to the penalty – something that we worked on at half time – came off quite well, but we didn’t manage to deal with the game in a proper way after we scored the first goal.”
On battling back from 2-1 down to draw level so late in the game, Eckert praised Saints’ character, but was frustrated the team could not get the result over the line.
“It’s a compliment to the boys, I think it’s not easy when you go down 2-1 to come back in the game in the way that we did, and I think at that point we just needed to be happy to take a point and go home with one point more,” he added.
An eventful afternoon also saw the return of popular midfielder Oriol Romeu, who made his second Saints debut three weeks after returning to the club that he served for seven years in the Premier League.
Speaking on Romeu’s 76th-minute introduction, Eckert added: “I think it’s not easy, obviously a big challenge to come on in a game like today, but we are very happy to have him.”
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