RALPH Hasenhuttl insisted Saints “always have the belief” and credited his side for being brave in their 1-0 win over AFC Bournemouth. Saints ended a five-match run without victory thanks to Che Adams and his solitary first-half goal, but had to ditch their attacking principles to earn it. Hasenhuttl switched to a defensive five-at-the-back shape with 30 minutes left of the contest, introducing Lyanco as the destroyer. It saw the home side have 63 per cent of the ball following the break, but they could not find a way through Gavin Bazunu, Mohammed Salisu and co.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “An important win for us and for our fans especially, but for the staff, players and everyone. An important win and a deserved win. Not only running but the braveness with the ball from the first minute. We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for this but we showed a lot of good things. It seems it has created a massive belief in that we can play together, especially in such a game where you can let the ball run on the ground. We have the belief all the time because you see in our last games there are margins missing, and in the Premier League margins decide games. Sometimes, you have to have the margins on your side. This was the challenge and to find the key for having a clean sheet, winning with one goal one time.”
Although the win was ugly, Saints have been criticised for being unable to keep a clean sheet and resist an onslaught when not playing at their best. The St Mary’s outfit recorded their first shut-out of the campaign and only a second win on the road since February.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “For a lot of the second-half we were under pressure until we changed shape. We tried to play out but this didn’t work and we had to try other things. If you don’t try you won’t find other solutions and this was the positive thing for me. I am very happy about the players because we didn’t have only a first XI but we had subs where everyone did their job. It is not easy to step into such a game and keep the level high. You could feel today they wanted to show they could win here.”
