Rusk: A difficult first half
Interim Manager Simon Rusk gave his reaction after Southampton fell to a 2-0 defeat at Everton in their final away match of the season.
Two first-half goals from Iliman Ndiaye gave the hosts the result they craved on an emotional farewell to Goodison Park, as Saints failed to pose much of a threat until the latter stages of the game.
"We had a difficult first 45," said Rusk in his summary of the afternoon. "We didn't defend well enough, we didn't attack well enough. And I thought the second half was encouraging."
Ndiaye's first goal came on six minutes and his second in added time at the end of the first half, with Rusk adding that both were particularly ill-timed for his team.
"It makes the half more tentative [after the early goal], because you don't want to concede a second and, for a team that's struggled and we're down there, it's hard to sort of open up because you need to somehow cling in the game and we concede the goal just before the end of the half and it probably takes the game away from us in some respects," he said.
"Then it's about winning the second half and trying to claw yourself back in. I thought the least we deserved was a goal. It might have been interesting if we get that goal, but it wasn't to be on the day."
Rusk, who explained he had lost centre back Jan Bednarek to injury the day before the game, also saw fellow defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis pick up a knock late in the match, with the severity of it unclear.
"I've not caught up with him yet, so we're hoping it's not too serious, but obviously it looked like it was a sore one for him so we just have to wait and see," he said.
