Ryan Manning urges Southampton to keep their heads up before the play-offs | OneFootball

Ryan Manning has urged Southampton not to dwell on their automatic promotion near-miss as they head to Preston North End with a play-off place already secured.

“With the run that we’ve been on, we’ve got so close, and then the hope comes, but we know what’s happening now. When we were 21st in the table, if you had told us we would secure play-offs with a game to go, we would have snapped your hand off. The start we had didn’t give us a chance. The reality of winning all 10 games to get promoted automatically is a bit of a fairytale,” he said, speaking to the Daily Echo.

“To get seven wins and two draws, you can’t be disappointed with it. In a way, if it was going to happen, it’s probably better that it happened now because it gives us a few days to get over the disappointment. We can get our heads around it and know that we have three or four games now to get to Wembley and get promoted."

The 29-year-old has been a standout this season under Tonda Eckert, his third and most productive campaign since joining from Swansea City. His last goal came in the 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town, a result that ended faint hopes of a top-two finish.

Southampton conclude at Deepdale before the play-offs, with Manning aiming to set the tone for the push towards Wembley.

Source: Sainstmarching.com