Ralph Hasenhuttl has hailed Che Adams for reaping the fruits of hard work to thrive at Premier League level.
Adams bagged his fourth league goal of the campaign as Saints sealed their seventh win this term in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over struggling Sheffield United.
The 24-year-old striker now appears settled at top-flight level, leaving Hasenhuttl praising his desire to acclimatise to both the Premier League and his demanding coaching style at Southampton.
“We’ve developed every area of his play, this was necessary and we had to work on that in the first few months with him,” said Hasenhuttl, of Adams.
“It took a little bit of time I think, but now we’re seeing him gaining more and more self-confidence.
“It’s not a weakness to play regularly with the same system.
“And of course we are well known now for our pressing, which we will do against every opponent.
“It’s always nasty for the opponent, and we do it against every opponent
“So there’s a lot of details in the work, I can assure you we are turning every stone every week.
“But the guys are really enjoying it, they are talking about football every day and this is how it should be.”
Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond were also on target as Saints briefly moved third in the table, before Hasenhuttl’s men were later overhauled by Leicester.
Sheffield United’s winless run at the start of the new campaign extended to 12 matches, with boss Chris Wilder already under increasing pressure to keep the Blades in the relegation dogfight.
Billy Sharp and Oli McBurnie were preferred in attack to big-money summer signing Rhian Brewster, but the Blades again drew a blank in front of goal.
Wilder insisted he continues to pore over team selection, as the most challenging element of his role.
When asked why Brewster did not make the starting XI, Wilder said: “I can only pick 11 players, and there’s reasons behind every decision.
“It might not look like it at the moment, but there’s quite lot of thought that goes into picking the side, that’s my biggest task.
“This is the most difficult period of my career through picking the right side through injuries, players we’ve lost and players who maybe aren’t playing at the top of their game the way you can do.
“And when you don’t win a game that’s always open for discussion, which I understand.”
The niggly McBurnie suffered a shoulder injury after an acrobatic fall from a tackle, leaving Wilder sweating on his fitness for Thursday’s clash with Manchester United.
“He got a shoulder injury, fell heavily on his shoulder. He wanted to get out there, which just shows his attitude and character,” Wilder said.
“You could see straight away he was holding his shoulder in the second half and we had to make a quick decision on that.
“From here looking at him and shoulder injuries in general, I would say it’s touch and go whether he’ll be involved on Thursday.”
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