Hasenhüttl: We remain competitive
Ralph Hasenhüttl was pleased with the standard of performance Southampton delivered against high-flying Leicester City on Saturday evening, despite falling to a two nil defeat at King Power Stadium.
The second strike was scored in the dying stages of extra time, as Saints were pushing forward in search of an equaliser, with Stu Armstrong's effort off the crossbar representing the visitors' best attempt on goal.
Depleted by injury and the absence of top scorer Danny Ings due to a positive Covid-19 test last week, Saints' matchday squad was far from full strength, but the display itself demonstrated plenty of spirit and fight, the manager concluded.
"We tried the best we can in the moment, I think," said Hasenhüttl. "We really forced them into a good performance. It's always necessary to be good committed and I think we have been.
"Finally, I think the difference was that they scored the first goal. We had a few chances which we didn't take. The rest, I must say, we showed why we are in this position in the moment.
"Although we've got a lot of injuries we were still competitive. This is a good thing for us as a team. We're not in the best position for alternatives at the moment, this is the reason why we didn't take points tonight maybe.
"The final power in the final third maybe was not there. In the end, you give more risk to try and get the goal but that's okay. When we're also losing players it gets more and more difficult for us.
When asked about a time frame for injured players returning to action, the manager added: "Ingsy for sure, he's coming back. But also not for Tuesday, maybe for the next game. It takes time."
