Lallana on "encouraging" victory
On his first start of his second spell at the club, Adam Lallana picked out the positives from Southampton's penalty shootout victory at Everton in the Carabao Cup third round.
Despite conceeding on 20 minutes to the hosts a Saints side with ten changes to the line-up from the weekend found a response 12 minutes later through Taylor Harwood-Bellis' header.
A second half with chances for both sides ultimately ended in a penalty shootout; Mateus Fernandes, Ross Stewart, Ben Brereton Díaz, Harwood-Bellis, Joe Aribo and James Bree all scoring before up stepped Alex McCarthy to deny Ashley Young and secure progression.
"I thought that we played well," said a pleased Lallana, "we had a good reaction to conceding a sloppy goal. It’s a bit of a habit for us at the moment, conceding from set pieces. So there’s lots to improve on, but it’s not an easy place to come here. It never has been for me over the years. To walk out of here with a win is good for us, for momentum, for confidence.
"I’ve been there before [going behind early], it’s important to stay calm in those moments, especially when we’re got a lot of young players. But I thought we started the game well and played well. Obviously a blow to concede but still a long way to go in the football match and the it was really encouraging the way we responded to the goal."
Adding 45 minutes to his half hour on Saturday, the experienced midfielder said it's all about patience as he builds towards a full recovery.
"I’ve obviously had a bit of a frustrating four or five weeks in pre-season where I was carrying a little knock. So it was planned to play 45 minutes tonight and from the start it was really enjoyable.
"I think having missed pre-season it’s obviously important to gradually build those minutes up and I've had a couple of matches off the bench; half hour [on Saturday] and got 45 minutes tonight.
"It’s amazing to have a manager who’s willing to work with me and whatever minutes [I need]. I probably could’ve carried on tonight, I felt good, but I think at 36 it’s important to gradually build it up when you can. It’s a long season and I want to help as often as I can."
