Southampton can finish in the top four of the Premier League following Monday night’s hard-earned draw away at Aston Villa.
England international Nathaniel Clyne’s 82nd-minute equaliser rescued a point for Southampton after Gabriel Agbonlahor had put the hosts in the ascendancy for much of the game.
The draw came on the back of eight wins in nine previous matches for ‘The Saints’, who are now six points adrift of runaway leaders Chelsea but Koeman insists his side can win the race for a Champions League berth.
“Everybody knows that the Premier League is a battle every game and there are big teams but they are struggling as well,” the Dutch boss told Sky Sports.
Ronald Koeman Believes Southampton Can Finish Among in Premier League Top Four. Image: Getty.
“If we keep going and keep our spirit like we showed- we had great character and we showed great patience in the second half- then it’s possible because I don’t see many teams better than Southampton.”
At Villa Park on Monday, the visitors were nowhere near the attacking prowess that has seen them mount early challenge in the English top flight.
With Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United set to give the St Mary’s Stadium outfit a baptism of fire in the opening of a busy festive period, the ex-Dutch international wants his side to improve to be able to make a statement of intent against the big teams.
“It’s a nice week to play and we live game to game with three big teams. In this game Aston Villa had some key players injured maybe (that made them) are more dangerous and it was difficult,” he explained.
“We didn’t reach the level we can reach and we must reach that to be competitive against City on Sunday.”
No comments:
Post a Comment