HUGHES PRAISES NATHAN REDMOND AFTER VICTORY AT PALACE

BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT SELHURST PARK

The Southampton Manager, Mark Hughes was full of praise for Nathan Redmond after his performance in their 0-2 victory away to Crystal Palace, as they recorded their first league win of the season. He said: “Nathan Redmond has taken in a lot of information. He is a young man who has got undoubted talent who maybe lost his way a bit. I have a lot of confidence in what he is trying to do. He is in a good place at the moment. He is always demanding the ball and shows he is a player with a lot of confidence in what he is trying to do.  If he can maintain that confidence it will be a big factor for us “

He was also pleased with his midfield, which was anchored by Mario Lamina.  He said:” Lamina and the other midfielders were dominant in the middle of the park. They get round the pitch and when they play with that intensity it is very difficult for the opposition to get a real foothold in the game. I am really pleased with the level they are producing at the moment.”

The Palace Manager Roy Hodgson bemoaned the fact that Wilfried Zaha was not available due to a groin injury,  he picked up in the last minute of the last training session before the game. “He came back this morning to the medical staff to see if the injury was not serious but the injury was sufficient to keep him out of the game and he could not play.”

Palace have not managed to win a game when their talisman Zaha has not been available. The manager said: “Of course I am aware of this record. There is nothing I can do about it until we win without him. Until we do that everyone will be entitled to bring the record up. Again he did not play today and again we did not win. We will have to work hard and put that behind us because there will be games where Wilf Zaha does not play.

Jordan Ayew  stepped in and played his first game for Palace and the manager said:” I was pleased with him. He had not had a particularly strong pre-season but I thought he worked really hard. The main reason why I took him off was because he was tired. We were not unlucky today though because Southampton fully deserved to win. We were not at it today.”

Despite Zaha’s absence Mark Hughes did not think that he would have made a difference today.  He said: ““With the level of control we had even he (Zaha) would have struggled to get a foothold in the game.”

Danny Ings and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored the Saints two goals.  In between both goals Charlie Austin who came off the bench missed a penalty, which was saved by Wayne Hennessey.

After the international break Southampton’s next opponents are Brighton at home while Crystal Palace are away at Huddersfield.