Tonda Eckert praises Southampton for passing ‘test of maturity’ against Oxford

Tonda Eckert insists no one at Southampton is getting carried away, despite watching his team extend their unbeaten run to 14 games with a 2-0 home win over Oxford.

An early goal from Cyle Larin and a wonder strike from Shea Charles secured the points as Saints further consolidated their position in the Championship play-off places.

Eckert said: “Overall I’m very happy, the atmosphere was good in the dressing room, but not too euphoric and it shouldn’t be.

“I think it’s been a test of maturity today, because those games are not easy to play when you know you have the ball for long spells.

“There’s never a guarantee that you can open up a game early on, but the boys knew that there was a chance to start strong and I think the first 15 minutes were excellent.”

The platform for success again came from a clean sheet and Southampton have now conceded just four goals in their last seven league games.

Eckert said: “I’ll go even further, I think since the Sheffield United game (in January), there’s only two games where we’ve conceded from open play.

“Some games you need to win on the ball, some games you need to win on a transition, some you might need to win on a set-piece. I think the league just demands different ways of playing football for different games.”

The result ends a run of three wins and a draw for Oxford, a streak which had breathed new life into their hopes of avoiding the drop.

With his side still second from bottom, manager Matt Bloomfield insists all is still to play for and says he is not worried about other results.

He said: “My only concern is what we do. My focus has to be on our football club. What happens elsewhere is none of my business. That’s for other people to comment on. I have to focus on what we do.

“We believe in the work we’re doing. We’ve just had a good run of four results before this one. It breaks the cycle, but it’s up to us to now put another run together.

Saints went ahead in the sixth minute when Taylor Harwood-Bellis split the defence with a pass to Tom Fellows, who squared for Larin to prod home.

Then a short corner saw Cameron Archer found Charles, who curled a beautiful strike into the top corner from 30 yards out.

Bloomfield said: “Obviously the first one’s very preventable, something we’d planned for, so we’re really disappointed with that. The second goal was an incredible strike from distance.”

Late on Will Lankshear missed a great chance to pull a goal back for Oxford, while Fellows struck the underside of the bar for Saints.