Southampton’s Walker-Peters announces ‘really demoralizing’ defeat

The 26-year-old played 90 minutes due to a 1-0 loss at St. Mary’s, leaving the Saints six points behind in safety.

With only five Premier League games left this season, this was the last chance for strikers Ruben Selles to make a name for themselves.

The result followed a 3–3 draw with then league leaders Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium just a week earlier and was another six-point loss.

Speaking to the media after the game, Walker-Peters told the Daily Echo: “I can only speak for myself, but I’m disappointed after leaving an Arsenal game in which I thought we played very well and were clinical.

“We completed everything we worked on, but then we came here tonight and played the way we did – it’s really demoralizing.”

He added: “We ourselves are in this situation, so we have to fix it from Sunday. I don’t know why, that’s a good question.

“It’s something that’s been going on all season, starting with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge when we played very well and then going to Leeds and losing.

“I think it’s really disappointing because we need to gain confidence in the games you win. It happens throughout the season and that is why we are in the situation we are in.

Asked if he thought their problems were due to a lack of experience on the team, Walker-Peters replied: “I don’t think they’re an experienced team, no more than when I started my career.

“But there is experience and it’s a very talented group of young players, so that’s no excuse. I just don’t think we’re doing well enough.”

The Saints failed to equalize in the last minute when Che Adams scored a toe-length goal in the penalty area.

The rules, the rules, Walker-Peters mused. “I mean we have a few seasons of VAR now and we wouldn’t be surprised if someone takes their toe off.

“It happened in a lot of matches and VAR just wasn’t our friend this season, but I don’t want to apologize and talk about VAR. We didn’t deserve today’s victory. We created too little and took too few chances.”

He continued, “We weren’t clinical enough. We weren’t strong enough defensively in the games we played and it showed on the table.

“As I said, we are in the position we are in, not because we are not a talented group, but because we have not done enough important things in the game. So we have five games ahead of us and we will try to change that and hopefully score as many points as possible.”