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Saints At Watford The Verdict

Whilst a point was ultimately not what we would have expected, the real plus was the fact that we kept a clean sheet for the first time in ages in the Premier League.

Prior to this game it had been 9 games ago that we last kept a clean sheet in the Premier League, that being the 2-0 win over Hull City back in early April.

Since then we have failed to stop the opposition scoring and in both the tail end of last season and the first games of this, we have made a habit of conceding sloppy goals.

So the first aim of this game was to keep a clean sheet, cut out the errors and lapses of concentration and build on that, this we did and not only did we keep that blank scoresheet but we did not allow Watford one shot on target, a hark back to a great defensive record of the first 3/4 of last term.

But having done that we needed to impose or selves on the game a little more and although we did have more shots on goal than the home side and indeed 5 of them on target, we did not work the home goalkeeper enough and rarely looked like scoring.

But there were still plenty of plus points to be taken from the game including that blank sheet, yes we are still not quite right and we are not creating enough, but the return of Ryan Bertrand will add pace and a great attacking option whilst this could have been a game that suited Jordy Clasie, whilst Wanyama & Oriol Romeu were strong in winning the ball in the midfield, neither can be described as creative and we did not move the ball around as much as we need to.

Add to that a new central defender this week and we should be ready to fire on all cylinders, the difference between our start this year and last is that back then we had a fit team raring to go, we have started this one with injuries to key players and with a squad the size of Saints that can be tough.

Another thing Saints fans need to remember is that although they may be disappointed that we could not beat one of the promoted teams, apart from the fact that Watford are unbeaten, last season we struggled away to the promoted sides, we lost 1-0 at Burnley and 2-0 at Leicester City, our only result and indeed goal coming in the 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers and that was a last minute injury time winner.

So although three points would have been nice I will take one knowing that we have taken a step forward in confidence by keeping that clean sheet and that we travel to Denmark with that knowledge and that can only be a positive thing.

I say this every year but it is a marathon not a sprint, there is long way to go but there is nothing much wrong with Saints that the arrival of Virgil Van Dyke and a couple of wins this week cant put right.

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