Poortvliet: Win was deserved

Saints boss elated, whilst Coppell is left scratching his head

By Rob Carragher   Last updated: 22nd November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Poortvliet: Win was deserved

Poortvliet: 'so very proud'

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Southampton boss Jan Poortvliet had nothing but praise for his side after the Saints ended Reading's unbeaten record at the Madejski Stadium.

The Royals had previously gone eight games without defeat at home, but an impressive Southampton performance brought about a shock defeat over the Championship's third-placed club.

Poortvliet has come under criticism for the club's poor league performance so far this season, but he feels that such a fine win will create the confidence that could see Southampton rise back up the Championship standings.

"I am so very proud of what we saw today," said the Dutchman.

"Reading are a good team, but we deserved to win. In the first half particularly we created a lot of chances and this win will create a lot of confidence.

"Last week we played Wolves and I thought we deserved more than we got. It's good that we can now look forward to the next game."

Stronger

A brace from Bradley Wright-Phillips proved key to the Saints' victory, and it is the calibre of young talent such as the 23-year-old striker that Poortvliet hopes will provide a bright future for the club.

"In the past we have thought Bradley Wright-Phillips was better coming on as a substitute than starting so we told him 'come on Bradley' and he responded," added the former Dutch international.

"Everybody can see what we are capable of. We work on it every day and every week and I think we will be a stronger team next year if we can keep our young players."

Poor performances

Reading manager Steve Coppell on the other hand was baffled as to how his promotion hopefuls had been so thoroughly outplayed by a side languishing just above the relegation places.

The club had lost several internationals during the week, but Coppell insists that the problems extended far beyond that factor against Southampton.

"We never do well after an international break, but I am at a loss to work out why we started so slowly," admitted Coppell.

"I don't believe we underestimated Southampton because all week I have been stressing that we are not good enough to underestimate anybody.

"They could have scored more, especially in the first half and there were a lot of poor performances from us today.

"They played good football, scored two good goals and they could have had more."