Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said he could “live with a point” after his side were held to a goalless draw at Fulham.
Shane Long and Theo Walcott both looked to have broken the deadlock for the visitors in the second half, only to have their efforts ruled out for offside after VAR reviews, but Hasenhuttl said his players performed well in a tough game.
“We had today four players not available for the team and three of them were part of the first XI last time, with (Jannik) Vestergaard, (Oriol) Romeu and (Danny) Ings,” the Austrian manager said.
“I think we did a good job today – we had bigger chances, we scored two goals, one was a very close offside.
“But it’s tough here, very tough to win here, because when you concede a goal it’s nearly impossible to come back into the game – we have seen this in the past.
“So it was the most important thing first of all to have a clean sheet. I think that we did a good job against the ball.”
Southampton had previously gone on a seven-match unbeaten run earlier in the season, during which they briefly topped the table.
However, this result sees them drop out of the European places, and Hasenhuttl admitted his side wasted their opportunities.
“This is what you can be a little bit sad about, that we were a little bit unlucky in the moment of scoring,” he said.
“I think we had a big chance in the first half. Shane must make the goal from the free-kick and this was the biggest chance in the game.
“We had, I think, a handball in the box. So we could have had a penalty there.
“Little bit unlucky… but I can live with a point certainly.”
The Cottagers played out their fourth consecutive draw in the absence of their manager Scott Parker, who remains in self-isolation after a member of his household tested positive for coronavirus, but Fulham assistant Stuart Gray was disappointed with the point.
“You could tell by their reaction that they were happy to get a point, but we got in some very good areas, probably the final ball just let us down,” he said.
“But yes, the effort and commitment (were pleasing) and it’s four games unbeaten in the Premier League, which is very difficult to do as we know.”
