Manning: Defenders have the bragging rights
Ryan Manning formed part of a proud defensive union post-match as all three of Southampton's goals during the victory over Sheffield Wednesday were scored by those at the back of the pitch.
James Bree scored the first of the afternoon, his third in four games with a cleverly taken flick inside the penalty area. The lead was doubled just before the interval by Manning himself, notching his sixth of the season in what now goes down as his highest scoring season to date.
Sheffield Wednesday halved the deficit during the second half but Taylor Harwood-Bellis continued the defensive dominance in front of goal with Saints' third on 71 minutes.
"Defenders on top today, apart from not keeping the clean sheet," joked Manning. "But look we obviously know their situation, what's going on here. But you still have to come up with a performance. I think getting the second goal just before half time was a nice settler, changes the game dynamic too.
"Then we have the disappointment of conceding but we've shown good character again, which shows where we are as a group at the minute. We go up the other end, score a third and then see out the game quite well."
All three of Saints finishes today were from set-pieces, something Manning feels typifies the league they're in: "That's the Championship in a nut shell, really. We have to defend them well and then make the most of the opportunities we get.
"We do a lot of work on them and get a lot of analysis on it, a lot of time on the grass practising and getting different routines. Then it's about being effective with them. I think we've sort of seen the rewards of that now.
"[When I got the free kick] i thought, here we go! Then I saw the angle and then I saw the wall. It was a big, big wall! I sort of just caressed it in there, was a bit of a slow one! I thought 'is it going to get there or not?' Thankfully it went in the corner, I was delighted! We have no set targets but we want to contribute with goals and assist where we can. [The defenders] have got the bragging rights over the defenders this week, so we'll milk it!"
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