New Southampton manager Mark Hughes couldn’t have been more pleased to register a win in his first game in charge against Wigan Athletic at the weekend.
Heading to the DW Stadium, Southampton took a two nil win with goals coming from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cedric and the margin of victory could’ve been larger as Manolo Gabbiadini missed a second half penalty.
Speaking to saintsfc as he met with the media following the game, the former Stoke City manager explained.
‘I was delighted, I have to say. It was a difficult fixture for us against a Wigan side whose manager and staff deserve huge credit for the way they set up and their philosophy of how they want to play. This year they`ve gone up against other top Premier League clubs and overcome them, so we were the next in line, apparently, but we weren`t prepared to play that game. We had to match their intensity and endeavour – that`s what lower league teams will always have in abundance.’
Hughes went on to say.
‘If you don`t match that, sometimes you can come unstuck, but as a consequence of matching their endeavour, we were able to show the level of quality we have above them. That`s eventually what`s taken the game away from them, so I`m delighted, because it wasn`t easy for us leading up to the game with a lot of change at the club. The players could`ve found that difficult to deal with, but they`ve been first class since I walked through the door. It`s a good start for us, but that`s all it is, so we have to build on this now.’
Hughes was also quick to praise the support of the fans with 4,344 making the trip for the tie, and he spoke about how important they would be over the remaining games of the campaign.
‘The Saints fans have come out in huge numbers and the support we had was magnificent. We thank each and every one of them, because it`s clearly not been an easy period for anybody with allegiances to Southampton FC. I like to think this was a reflection of what this group can do for them – we just need their support from now until the end of the season. If we get that, which I`m sure we will on the evidence of today, and everybody`s in it together, we will be fine.’
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