Walker-Peters: We need to keep pushing
Kyle Walker-Peters reflected on a positive Southampton display, as they claimed a valuable point at Old Trafford with a draw against Manchester United.
Forced to come from behind for the third time in the space of a week, another resilient display from Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men ensued, as Ché Adams's second-half goal earned a share of the points in Manchester, after Jadon Sancho had given the hosts and early lead.
“[We're] very satisfied. I think we did have chances to win it, but so did they,” said Walker-Peters. “Fras made that big save at the end.
“We’re very satisfied with the result and that’s four points this week, which we’re really happy with.
“I think it shows how confident we are and it’s important we maintain that and we can’t let that standard drop now. We’ve set the standards high and we need to keep it, keep pushing and keep trying to climb the table.
“I think we started the season really slow, but as the season has gone on we’ve improved and improved and improved. That starts on the training pitch and now we’re showing it in matches.
“A draw against City, a win against Tottenham and a draw here, it shows we can compete with the top teams.
“We were confident, we had our chances to win the game or be up in the first half. We had two really big chances which usually you’d score from."
“[Hasenhüttl’s] message didn’t change, we just had to stick at it. Keep probing like we did and we got our chance and scored.
“That’s something we’ve wanted to improve on. There’s been times this season and last season where we’ve been 1-0 up before half time and then we come out in the second half and we’re a bit too defensive and a bit too deep.
“I think now we’ve shown that even if it’s 1-1, even if we’re winning, we’re still going to try score more goals. We’re a lot less passive and a lot more aggressive and I think that shows in our results.
“The manager has really been pushing for that: stay positive in the second half, don’t drop deep, keep playing. The more confident we become, the more we’re doing it and I think that’s shown in the recent performances.
Seeing Walker-Peters play in a number of positions this season, he also discussed his options in playing further forward at times.
“I feel comfortable playing in a lot of positions, I’ve shown that I can play left-back this season and in training a lot of the time I’ve filled in as a number 10," he said.
"I feel comfortable doing it, I feel comfortable on the ball. The more games I play there, the more I get used to it. The main thing for me is being on the pitch and helping the team get results.”
