Eckert: We need to turn this around
Tonda Eckert was left lamenting “two stories” to Southampton’s 2-1 defeat to Hull at St Mary’s.
The head coach was encouraged by aspects of the performance after watching his team register 22 attempts at goal, including a close-range header from Taylor Harwood-Bellis that struck the post in the first half.
Ultimately, though, a defensive mistake and a set-piece goal handed victory to the visitors, who held a 2-0 lead at the interval and defended manfully to hold on for the three points.
“Disappointed. I think there are two stories to the game,” Eckert said. “One thing is the amount of chances that we created, and not really conceding anything on the other end, and the other story is that we lost the game 2-1.
“It doesn’t make sense to keep repeating the same story after and after, because we talk about the same things. We need to make sure we get back to winning ways quickly.
“I can understand all of the disappointment and it’s the same for me, it’s the same for the players, and we need to make sure that we turn this around on Wednesday.”
Eckert switched to a back four at half time, before introducing Ross Stewart from the bench for his first St Mary’s appearance in four months midway through the second period.
Stewart took only four minutes to find the net, injecting new life into Saints’ prospects of rescuing a result, but the hosts were unable to create any clear chances to equalise.
“We changed formation, we tried to be as aggressive as we can be. I think in the structure and possession we didn’t need to adapt too much, because we created a lot in the first half,” Eckert continued.
“Ross is obviously a different profile, I think with a different way of moving in the box – obviously a target player to go for if we want to go a little bit more direct. It’s very positive to have him on the pitch.
“I think the game changes when you have Ross on the pitch, because it gives us a different way of going forward.
“I think we tried this (to be more direct) a couple of times, but we should have found him more often because towards the end of the game there are moments when we need to make sure the ball ends in the box.”
