Nigel Adkins lavished the praise on to his young side for passing a tough test in the high pressure 3-1 win over QPR.
Adkins was delighted with the way that his players rose to the occasion and went on to hold their nerve in a superb display particularly in the first half, with the manager highlighting the cohesion shown both on and off the pitch.
“I thought the players were superb,” he told Saints Player. “It was a good performance, and the supporters were outstanding. It’s a great three points away from home and we should enjoy it.
“They (the supporters) really lifted the players and they’ve done it consistently. We’re together as one at this football club and that was demonstrated in abundance today.
“I’m going to enjoy tonight it’s fair to say. It’s pleasing to get any away victory – it’s pleasing to get any victory, but to get an away one in the Barclays Premier League the players have dealt with the situation and you can see that they’re together.
"There’s a determination about them with a growing maturity which you could see out there through young players who are responding to the challenge in a really positive way, which is very pleasing for the future of this football club.”
Saints were well-organised and good value for their win, and Adkins was pleased to see the application from his players coming to fruition.
“I think we have a good shape about ourselves from a defensive point of view," said the gaffer.
"Offensively we look as though we can score goals, we had a good resolve and I think we have a growing maturity about the players.
“We have a very young squad and another young team that’s gone out there today and I think we’re growing with our performances and there’s a good belief about ourselves which is important.
“It was a great performance last week and even the second half in the defeat to Tottenham there were a lot of positives to take from the work we’ve been doing and we shouldn’t forget about that and we keep working on it.
“Today we’ve come away from home and taken a well-deserved three points.”
One player who flourished in the game was former Rangers loanee Jason Puncheon, who capped his impressive performance with a well-taken goal before half time.
“He’s been working hard,” Nigel affirmed. “He’s had a good pre-season and again it’s about that consistency.
"Throughout the game, we’re not going to highlight individuals, but he’s scored a great goal and could have scored three or four more.
“He worked hard for the team as did everybody – it was a real good all round performance, but there’ll talk about Puncheon and maybe one or two others.
“Maya [Yoshida] and José [Fonte] are forming a partnership together and it takes a period of time for everybody,” he added.
“Corky’s come in and played alongside Morgan which has been good, but as a group of players we work hard on the training ground and we talk about lessons learned which we always do, and then you’ve got to go and apply it so the players deserve a lot of credit for what they’re doing.
“Let’s enjoy this one for the moment. That’s important.
"The way the supporters were and the way the players were, we’re together at this football club – and that’s a big statement, I think.”
Click here to watch Adkins' post-match interview on Saints Player
Share this: