Saturday 6 February 2016 20:41, UK
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic believes his side lost their clash with Southampton in the first 15 minutes of the game.
Maya Yoshida scored the only goal of the match at St Mary's in the ninth minute and despite the sending off of Victor Wanyama just after half-time, West Ham were unable to muster an equaliser on Saturday night.
Bilic said he and his players were 'gutted', not just by the result but also by the manner of it.
"First I would like to congratulate Southampton, they fought and they were very good in defending the box so they deserve it," the Croatian said.
"It was one of those defeats that is really hard to take and it was down to - I said this to the guys in the dressing room at half-time - the first 15 minutes, where we basically gave them a couple of corners unnecessarily. They were better on the second balls, they were better in the first 15 minutes.
"We started better in the second half and then when they were with 10 men, we were dominating and all that but we didn't create enough.
"Our crosses were quite poor or they defended really well. You can lose a game but when you lose a game like this - we are gutted."
Asked about the decision to send off Wanyama for his challenge on Dimitri Payet, Bilic insisted that it was the correct decision.
"It didn't turn out to be a key moment because it was 1-0 at the end," he added.
"It was a red card, I mean he didn't get Dimitri but, in my opinion - sliding is OK of course - when that second leg comes and you do scissors, it is so dangerous.
"It was a reckless challenge from their player so, for me, it was a red card."
The Hammers boss also confirmed that the calf injury that forced James Tomkins off was not "too bad" and that the defender had initially felt it in the warm-up but indicated that he was fine to play regardless.
