Southampton boss Parker disappointed with first half performance against Sunderland | OneFootball

Southampton head coach Simon Parker admitted that he was disappointed with his side’s first half performance as they drew 1-1 with Sunderland at Silverlake Stadium in Eastleigh on Sunday afternoon.

Katy Watson fired Sunderland into a 19th-minute lead before Chloe Peplow came to Southampton’s rescue with a goal in first half stoppage time.

When speaking to WSL Full-Time after the match, Southampton boss Parker expressed his disappointment with the team’s first half performance, but identified the improvement made in the second half.

“We were really disappointed with the first half,” Parker said. “It was just a poor performance from us, we were too passive.

“We knew Sunderland like to attack down their right, so the aim was to show them to the left and we just didn’t do that well enough. I think we struggled just with the energy and on the ball.

“It was a poor first half and I thought we were fortunate to go in at 1-0, but the second half was a lot better. Off the back of that, we had opportunities, we just didn’t take them.”

Commenting on the game further, Parker stated that there were several positives to take forward. He praised the players’ versatility and resilience in adapting whilst the squad is light on numbers.

He said “Players have shown their versatility to be able to play different positions, while we’re a little bit light in the squad. We know we’ve got a little bit of resilience and grit about us; even if we don’t perform to the level that we want to, we can still get something from a game and that is important because you’re not always going to play the level you want.

“We know that if you’re passive, teams are going to play around you, so we’ve got to make sure we have that energy no matter what we do because Birmingham next week is going to be a really tough game and if we play like we did in that first half, it’s not going to be a very nice game for us.”

Southampton’s next Barclays WSL2 fixture at Birmingham City takes place on Sunday afternoon.