Hutchings responds to heavy defeat

Chris Hutchings revealed he didn't read the riot act to Walsall after their Southampton mauling and accepted his team were outclassed.

The Saddlers were crushed 5-1 at St Mary's on Saturday despite taking the lead through Matt Richards' stunning third minute free kick.

Lee Barnard's double and goals from Jason Puncheon, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana saw the Saddlers crash to their biggest defeat of the season.

But boss Hutchings says he saw no point in slamming his side as it could have an adverse effect on them.

"We spoke very calmly in the dressing room, you could rant and rave but sometimes it gets you nowhere, you've got to be constructive in what you do," he said.

"I've lost my rag a couple of times, like at Wycombe away, and sometimes you have to approach it the way you feel is right at that particular time.

"There's not a right or a wrong way but we've got to work extremely hard in the next week to put this one right, it was a bad day at the office.

"It's a nice place to come and play and sometimes you have to hold your hands up, we were beaten by the better side, the players they had on show were chalk and cheese compared to us.

"We've all been on the end of 5-1 defeats but it's how you react and learn from them. Everyone needs to take something out of it and improve on what they did."

And the boss admits the Saints overran his side, much like they did in their 3-1 win at the Banks's Stadium in December.

"They did and it was like that when we played them at home," he said. "We applaud the way they played as we weren't at our best, we didn't retain the ball or pass it. Sometimes you have to take your hat off to the opposition."

Rene Gilmartin replaced Clayton Ince after the veteran stopper's recent errors and Hutchings says it was time to give the Irishman another chance and absolved him from any blame.

"He wasn't at fault for any of the goals, after recent weeks I felt it was time for a change and he's been on the end of five goals – but none of them were down to him," he said.

Steve Jones also made a 20 minute cameo after almost three months out injured and Hutching was pleased with the nine goal winger's return but will ease him back into action.

"He looked sharp and we know what Jonah can do, we wanted to give him a bit of a free role to cause them problems and feel his way back in," said Hutchings, who also saw Rhys Weston make his comeback from a hamstring problem.

"We've got a reserve game tomorrow so we'll think about giving him 45 minutes but he's on the right track again and that's massive for the football club."

Southampton boss Alan Pardew was delighted with the performance but doesn't expect any extra praise.

He said: "I'm not interested about the credit, I'm interested in results. It's not about putting things right, we want to perform and we must go on a run.

"In the last 23 games we've lost three, drawn five and won 14 and we showed why on Saturday."