Alex McCarthy Southampton
KEEPER Alex McCarthy insisted Saints’ Premier League campaign was far from over and said: “We want to finish the season as strong as possible.” The Saints stopper produced a sublime display as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s 10-men dug-in to seal a 1-1 draw with Leicester City at St Mary’s on Friday, following Jannik Vestergaard’s 10th-minute red card.
Alex McCarthy said: “The season is definitely not done for us. There’s five games to go and we want to climb the table as much as possible and pick up as many points as possible. We will get our heads down this week, keep working and trying to improve. Obviously results have been a bit up and down this season but we want to finish the season as strong as possible.”
Saints were up against it a man light against Brendan Rodgers’s side on Friday, despite taking the lead through James Ward-Prowse’s penalty. A Jonny Evans header for the visitors ensured the spoils were shared. Giving his reaction to the draw,
Alex McCarthy said: “Obviously the boys were over the moon. It was difficult circumstances early on, going down to 10 men. We knew our backs were going to be up against the wall but to come away with a point there, it was an unbelievable effort from everyone in the team. The grit and determination the boys put in – throwing themselves at shots – it was an unbelievable performance. It was a well-deserved point.”
Vestergaard’s sending off proved the main talking point of the contest, with referee Rob Jones dismissing the Dane for a challenge on Jamie Vardy – deemed to have denied the striker a goalscoring opportunity.
Alex McCarthy said: “Obviously it happened quickly, I was pretty sure Jannik got the ball. I don’t know how bad the follow-through was but I thought it was a little bit harsh. The ref said he’s given him the red card because he’s denying a goalscoring opportunity but I thought it was a little harsh, I thought I might be able to get that ball anyway. The manager made a sub straight away to tighten things up at the back because we know how much of a threat Leicester are. There’s a lot of positives we can take from it. We’ve got a tough game next weekend (at Liverpool) and hopefully we can take those into that.”
