Hasenhüttl encouraged by Saints' resilience
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl has been encouraged by his team’s ability to bounce back from setbacks in recent weeks.
Tuesday’s 3-1 home victory over Crystal Palace was the second time in three home matches that Saints have come from behind to win, having also scored three goals in turning around a 2-0 deficit against Burnley last month.
In between those matches, Saints showed tremendous resilience to hold Champions League-bound Leicester to a draw despite playing more than 80 minutes of the game with 10 men.
The next visitors to St Mary’s are already-relegated Fulham, and Hasenhüttl is hopeful this developing mental toughness can serve his side well in the run-in, and beyond.
“The positive thing of the last two home wins we had was that we went down against teams you normally don’t have to, because then it becomes difficult against Burnley and Palace,” he said.
“But meanwhile we have the quality to push them on the back foot, and again score and create chances. In both games we scored three goals, and in both games we could have scored more often.
“This gives me a positive feeling for what we are doing at the moment with the ball – that it is definitely working well.
“This is a kind of strength that we need in the future, and you need players who make the goal from the chances we had, because against Liverpool we had massive chances and didn’t score.
“This time we were more clinical in front of the goal, and this, in combination with all the other things we do well in our games, is a good combination to be successful.
“In the end, when we are able to hold the tempo high, play our own way of football, then we are a good side and can also turn things around easily in a short time.
“This gives me a good feeling for the final games, and also for next season.”
