Dean Smith: “It was a difficult night,” he tells Sky Sports. “In the first half we gave the ball away too cheaply. We didn’t play with the quality we can go. When you get 6/10s throughout the pitch you won’t win a game in the Premier League.
“We had to pin their centre-backs and full-backs because they had too much ball in our half. We went two up front to change it round. The subs made an impact. Southampton are a high pressing team and their numbers drop off. We knew we’d get some joy in the second half.
“It’s been a disappointment tonight because so many players played below the standards they have played. It’s frustrating. Southampton are a very good team that recently held Man City and only lost once at home this season. They played well tonight.”
Ralph Hasenhüttl: ““We had a lot of chances against an organised opponent,” he tells Sky Sports. “It was a tight game. We were able to adapt our game and have different behaviours. That slowed their game down and then we scored our goals.
“We found Angus Gunn was like a magnet today. We had a lot of shots but he was always there and we had to wait for an unbeliveable strike from Oriel.
“It’s an amazing goal. We had a few shots from this position but not all of them were on target. Oriel is super strong, he’s so calm on the ball and he’s so important for our game. When he starts scoring goals we can’t ask for more.
“These are the toughest wins to get, against teams where everyone expects you to win. The last two teams coming here were in a relegation battle and we won 2-0 with a clean sheet. People think it’s easy but it’s not.”
