Jack Stephens has admitted that Southampton did not deserve to get anything from their game against West Ham United on Saturday.
In a crucial clash down at the bottom end of the table, Manuel Pellegrini’s side came away from St Mary’s with three points courtesy of a goal from Sebastien Haller in the first half of the match.
The defeat leaves Southampton on 15 points from 17 games, with another six-pointer against Aston Villa, who also have 15 points to their name, at the weekend.
Stephens, as quoted by The Daily Echo, accepted that Saints deserved to lose to West Ham. He said:
We didn’t start the game well enough. West Ham got a good foothold in the game, created a few chances and put us under pressure.
That’s what we should be doing, especially at home. We should be taking the initiative in these games.
Alex [McCarthy] made some great saves which kept us in the game but we didn’t deserve to get anything out of it.
Read Southampton’s verdict
Stephens is correct. Southampton were diabolical, not for the first time this season, against West Ham and deserved to lose.
It is alarming that the team haven’t yet put in a strong performance for a whole 90 minutes this season, with glaring defensive mistakes plaguing them and undoing their hard work.
Stephens was one of the few who performed adequately against West Ham, but he’ll also need to improve if Saints are to secure a positive result at Villa.
