This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl singled in-form striker Danny Ings out for some much-deserved praise following the 2-1 win against Norwich City on Wednesday night, but also revealed his frustrations with the former Liverpool man last season.
What did he say?
Well, after the 27-year-old scored for the fourth successive game – and his ninth in his previous 10 appearances in all competitions – the Austrian was asked about the form of the £20m summer addition as the south coast outfit moved out of the relegation zone.
Hasenhuttl said, via BBC Sport: “He scores nearly every game, it is a massive run. I’m very happy with his fitness, last season he was always injured and he is really helping us.”
Last season Ings made 24 Premier League appearances for Saints, and he is already on 15 this term in the early stages of December.
Fair comments?
They probably are, even if he pretty much missed two entire seasons when he was a Liverpool player.
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The centre-forward suffered from a number of niggling issues during the 2018/19 campaign, meaning he never had a consistent run in the starting XI.
While saying he was “always injured” is probably an exaggeration, the 27-year-old missed four consecutive top flight fixtures this time last year, as well as a standalone fixtures against Leicester City. He was then absent for five games with a hamstring problem in a crucial period between February and March as Hasenhuttl’s men battled against the drop.
Ings scored seven Premier League goals for Southampton last term, and his header against the Canaries in midweek means he has already outdone that tally this time around.
He has proven just how important he is right now, and if he can continue his rich vein of form he may be able to keep this Saints side just about afloat.
Everyone involved the club will be keeping their fingers crossed that his injury-free run continues, as a setback could have disastrous consequences given fellow strikers Che Adams, Shane Long and Michael Obafemi have a grand total of zero Premier League goals between them in 2019/20.
In other Southampton news, there was no room for Luke Shaw, Dusan Tadic or Graziano Pelle in FFC’s Saints Team of the Decade…
