Southampton boss Tonda Eckert expects a low-scoring game against a Stoke City side with a clear identity this weekend.
Stoke host Southampton in a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday (12.30pm) hoping to claw their way back into the Championship top six and Eckert has a good idea of what kind of match to expect.
Stoke’s 29 league matches so far this term have involved 60 goals at either end, the lowest in the division, and Southampton think one strike could be enough to win it.
Eckert said: “They have a very clear identity. It’s a pragmatic team and I don’t intend to say that in a negative way. I think they are pragmatic in a positive way. They have a couple of injuries, I think some of them will come back.
“I think we need to use some moments to play off their pressure, control them on transitions.
“For Stoke, normally they are low scoring games. There’s not a lot of goals at both ends. It might be one of the games that one goal is enough for us to bring it over the line. We did this against Sheffield United, I think we had every chance to do it against Portsmouth.
“They are a big threat on transitions and we need to be able to control that with the way we play in possession, big energy in the way we press and I’m sure we will create chances to score again.”
Eckert stepped up from under-21s coach at Southampton in November following the sacking of Will Still. Form has improved since then and they now sit seven points outside the play-off places.
He has a lot of respect for Mark Robins and his own approach to taking on Stoke sounds like it will be quite pragmatic too.
Asked how he would set up, he said: “Sit back and on the counter, I think. We will need some moments when we have a good intensity on the pitch.
“I think he is an unbelievable manager. I played against him (as a coach at Barnsley in 2021/22) when he was at Coventry and managed to win that game 1-0, the opening home game of the season. I don’t know how because they were a lot better in that game, to be fair.
“They are very solid. He knows exactly what he wants, they have clear principles. The way they attack, they don’t take too many risks, they know how to defend in their own box, that’s very clear.
“I do think that we can play off their pressure to then go forward a little bit quicker. There might be some moments when they drop and then we have to find solutions against a lower block.”
The burden of responsibility for that might fall on 11-goal top scorer Adam Armstrong, who has this week been linked with a £15m move to Wrexham before deadline day on Monday.
Eckert didn’t exactly deny the rumour as he said: “There’s a lot of noise. I think that’s normal. In every single window you get a lot of noise. Adam Armstrong is a great player. We’re doing everything at the moment to give him that little bit of touch that I think every striker needs. I think the positive thing is that he gets himself into excellent positions again and again. He’s an excellent player and there’s a lot of noise, which I think is normal for a window.”
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