Eckert: We left everything on the pitch
Tonda Eckert was satisfied that his players gave everything in their bid to stay in the hunt for automatic promotion, only for a 2-2 draw against Ipswich to consign Southampton to the play-offs.
The game was a slow burner at St Mary’s but exploded into life immediately after the interval when Wes Burns fired Ipswich in front, knowing a win would send the visitors up on the night.
But Saints, as they so often do, fought back, as Ryan Manning equalised from a free-kick before setting up Cyle Larin to turn the tide in favour of the hosts 10 minutes from time.
Ultimately the points were shared, a result that did not particularly suit either team, as Jack Clarke levelled the scores three minutes from the end before hitting the post and then forcing a flying save from Daniel Peretz in stoppage time.
“We left everything on the pitch. I think we came out quite strong in the second half and were a little bit unlucky with the early goal, but it just shows the character of the players that we’re able to push and always, no matter how the flow of the game, find a way to get back into it,” Eckert said.
“I think we deserved to go [2-1] up. It is what it is at this part of the season – you have two teams who pushed to win the game of football, so I think it was quite open after the equaliser.
“The stadium was lively. We knew that we needed that and we had the support to push us in tough moments of the game today.
“We’ve always been fighting. When you come to this stage of the season, every game is a big one, and you need to be fully there.
“I think that was a promotion to the quality of the Championship, with so much energy from both teams.
“Now we have clarity of what’s coming up, and we get ourselves ready for the play-offs.”
