Leo Scienza begs Southampton to make Tonda Eckert boss after win over Leicester

Tonda Eckert remained tight-lipped about his Southampton future but Leo Scienza has begged the Saints hierarchy to give the German the job full-time after they beat Leicester 3-0.

Eckert has won four matches out of four since he was named interim boss at St Mary’s but has consistently refused to entertain the premise of any questions about upgrading his under-21s contract.

But after Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ brace of headers and Finn Azaz’s goal in three successive matches, forward Scienza made the dressing room’s stance on Eckert clear.

“We are happy with him,” said the Brazilian. “He’s doing a great job, so why not? It can get a lot better than four wins in four games so give the man the job.”

Harwood-Bellis added: “Tonda has given us so much, he’s given us everything. He came in with his own ideas from day one. It just clarified for us, made it so clear.”

Saints had won just four times in the 51 matches before Eckert’s reign – now they have maximum points under him.

That has seen them move from teetering three points above the drop zone to sitting just two points shy of the play-off places.

Scienza insists points have only caught up with performances, saying: “It was already good from the beginning but now when you start winning, it feels even better.

“We want more. I don’t think we always played badly in the beginning, we were just unlucky… but now we are just clicking.”

Having beaten QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton, Leicester looked a tougher challenge, but Harwood-Bellis’s 18th-minute header set them on their way to a comfortable victory.

Republic of Ireland international Azaz bagged his fourth goal in three games to complete a breath-taking counter-attack to double their lead.

Harwood-Bellis headed in a third from a Ryan Manning corner and Eckert said: “I am very pleased.

“We knew we needed to invest a lot today for a clean sheet and we managed their quality quite well.

“It is a team effort. I’m not a fan of talking about individual players. If we don’t work in a team, then there is no one to shine. I only have compliments for the team’s performance.”

Foxes full-back Olabade Aluko was sent off on his first professional start for two yellow cards for fouls on the counter, and his Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes said: “A young lad who has a lot of desire to do well for the club.

“It is disappointing. Not just for him but for us as a club. We will be there for him and pick him up as I’m sure he will be an important player for the future of the club.

“I spoke briefly with him. I told him life is not just about the nice things. We have to learn from it and do better.”

Having won the last two matches, the Foxes had been looking up at the play-off spots but this hiccup dropped them to 13th.

“It is a disappointing performance and a disappointing result,” said Cifuentes, whose side’s last shot was in the 19th minute. “We wanted to build momentum for the playoff spot after two wins.

“But almost everything that could have gone wrong, did.

“It is difficult when you are 3-0 down with 10 men. We spoke at half-time about showing some pride and making sure it didn’t get worse.”