Wotte relief!

Saints’ boss Mark Wotte was a happy man after seeing his side pick up all three points against Preston North End at St Mary’s this afternoon.

A brace from Polish international Marek Saganowski and an opener from Andrew Surman sealed the win for the Dutchman, and the Head Coach was delighted to give credit where it was due.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Wotte said, “All the credit must go to Marek Saganowski, Jason Euell and David McGoldrick up front,” he beamed.

“They worked their socks off every second of the match and it makes life easy for the midfielders.

“Andrew Surman is one of the midfielders capable of scoring a goal, as Adam Lallana is, and it was reward for his hard work that Andrew scored and Marek got two as well.”

Wotte also praised the St Mary’s faithful, who have had little to cheer about over the course of the season, but the Dutchman was happy to FINALLY send the fans home happy.

“I’m very happy with the result and for the fans,” he said. “They showed their true character in the stadium and they were supportive and we played a good game and scored goals which is what we needed to get the fans behind us. St Mary’s was a great stadium for us today and hopefully we can do it again.”

Despite today’s victory, Saints still have plenty of work to do if they are to avoid the drop to League One; something that Wotte is well aware of.

“Last week against Bristol City we played nice football but we didn’t get one goal. We worked very hard and didn’t get any result and now we have three points against Preston North End which is very good for us but we’re still in trouble,” Wotte continued.

“We are working from day to day, from match to match, and we were desperate to have a home win, but we still need to battle for the next few matches.”

Wotte revealed that the mood in the dressing room was very good, but also emphasised that his players are refusing to get carried away, knowing that next week’s match against Cardiff is also a must win.

“Everybody was happy but everybody was telling each other it’s only one win and we’re not there yet,” he said.

“We have to keep our feet on the ground and work very hard this week to prepare ourselves for the Cardiff game which again is a very important game.

“They are another strong opponent but I tell my players we can beat anybody if we have a good day and we are scoring.

“This time we scored and it proves we’re not so bad,” he joked. “We are still in trouble and we need to focus again on our next match.”

When Preston pulled a goal back through Ross Wallace late on, it set up a nervy finale, but Mark Wotte was determined not to let the points slip away.

“I think we reacted well by bringing on Paul Wotton and Zoltan Liptak in the last 10-15 minutes to secure the win,” he explained.

“There were some harsh moments but we could have made it 4-1 as well with the header from Adam Lallana and from Jason Euell who was also close to scoring as well.”