Technical Director Martin Hunter was not happy with his side after their Under-21 Premier League Cup clash with Chelsea, despite Ryan Seager’s goal being enough to see Saints through to the last 16.
After a goalless and fraught first half, Hunter’s team moved into the ascendancy after the break and duly took the lead through Seager’s 53rd-minute goal.
But, on the whole, Hunter was dissatisfied with his side’s showing: “The old thing about it being an ugly win was certainly the case tonight,” he told youtube.com/southamptonfc after the match.
“This sounds a bit of an anti-climax: I'm disappointed with the performance but it was great to win the game.
“The old thing about it being an ugly win was certainly the case tonight.
“We were poor in the first half. Fraser [Forster] made two great saves and we kept turning the ball over very cheaply and making some poor decisions, so at half time we had a few harsh words to say to the players.
“There was more consistency in the second half. The goal was a clever goal – that's when Ryan's very clever, when he gets into the box – and it was a really cool, calm finish.
“In the last third, the defending of the back seven – so I'm including Fraser, the back four and the two central midfield players – in the last third was magnificent.
“In other areas of the pitch, we need to raise our game. I did say to the players at the end of the game that I will cut them a bit of slack in terms of it being the first game of 2016, but if we play like that against some of the other teams we're going to have problems.
“But a win is a win, and we're in the next round of the cup.”
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