Ward-Prowse on 'disappointing' Boxing Day defeat
James Ward-Prowse reflected on a disappointing afternoon at St Mary’s as Southampton fell to a Boxing Day defeat to Brighton.
It was a difficult day for Nathan Jones’s men, who found themselves on the backfoot early on thanks to Adam Lallana’s opener.
Two more goals either side of half time meant Ward-Prowse’s second-half goal was simply too little too late.
“Of course, we’re disappointed,” admitted the captain. “First game after the restart and we saw it as a good opportunity to be on the front foot and give everybody something to be excited about it.
“I think we failed to implement the manager’s messages today and that’s disappointing. We were very much in between, especially in the first half, we didn’t really get to grips and control of the game. Two easy goals took the game away from us.”
“Ultimately that’s the level of the Premier League. You give half chances or easy opportunities, and they take them.
“I think we were very much in between. We were too open. They played through us too easily.
“We know they’re a good footballing side but we failed to be solid and that’s the most disappointing thing from today.
“I think the manner in which we conceded the goals was the most disappointing thing and when you give them goals like that you give yourselves a mountain to climb. It was too little too late towards the end.”
The captain then looked ahead to a busy period coming up for Saints, with a trip to Craven Cottage on New Year’s Eve followed by Nottingham Forest’s visit to St Mary’s on January 4th.
“This time of year gives you the opportunity to turn bad results around very quickly and it’s a definitive period of the season for us.
“There’s a lot of winnable games coming up but that’s down to us and it starts on the training pitch with the work we’re going to do with the manager."
