Eckert: We had more than enough chances to win it
Tonda Eckert was left ruing chances not taken after Southampton’s perfect Sky Bet Championship home record came to an end in a frustrating St Mary’s stalemate against Bolton.
Saints had big chances early and late in the game, as Leo Scienza blazed over early on and Lewis Dobbin twice shot wide in the second half before James Bree skewed his shot off target from Scienza’s low cross six minutes from time.
The result did ensure a third clean sheet of the week for a Saints side previously without one in the league this season, but Eckert felt his side did enough to win the game.
“There were enough moments to win it – more than enough,” he said. “I think we had complete control in the first half, and then the game opens up a little bit in the second, where we tried to push.
“There is the chance to open it up very early after two minutes, and there are a couple of situations early in the second half, but if you don’t manage to score you know how it is – when you’re pushing for a result you don’t forget that you also need to defend. We will take the clean sheet, the third one in a row, put that one to bed and move on.”
Saints were also denied a very strong penalty claim when Scienza’s 58th-minute cross struck a raised Bolton hand in the box.
“It’s clear. If even the away manager says it’s a handball, I don’t need to add anything to that,” Eckert continued.
“They (Bolton) play a very high line, so you know you can get in behind on the outside a little bit more and that’s where most of the chances come from – that’s where the penalty situation comes from, the handball, and that’s where James’ chance comes from towards the end. Towards the end it was just us pushing for the goal, and I think we deserved it.”
Saints’ quest for a goal was not helped by the enforced first-half withdrawal of top scorer Cyle Larin.
“He had the collision with Gav (Bazunu) a little bit earlier, and then he called for a substitution a couple of minutes after because he felt something in his leg. I hope it’s nothing too bad – we will assess over the next days,” Eckert explained.
The head coach also delivered an update on the fitness of Flynn Downes ahead of next Saturday’s trip to West Ham after the midfielder was not included in the squad against Bolton having come off injured in the first half of Saints’ midweek win at Norwich.
“We will push. Obviously he’ll do everything, and then I think it’s also a question of how much he tolerates the pain because the normal injury time is a little bit longer, but we will see towards the end of the week.”
