Ings confident he will hit goal trail for Southampton
Danny Ings believes he can score the goals to help Southampton move up the table in the Premier League this season and away from the relegation zone.
The loan signing from Liverpool made his debut for the side as he came on as a substitute in yesterday’s goalless draw with Burnley.
But Ings believes he can make an impact for Mark Hughes’s side in the weeks ahead and help improve offensively on a side that only mustered 20 goals in 19 games at the St Mary’s Stadium last season.
“I’m still building fitness but I feel physically great,” Ings told the BBC. “Burnley are a difficult team to play against but in the second half we got hold of the game, I had a few chances.
“It was a good start to the season and if we keep playing like that the goals will come.”
Ings is looking to shine with Southampton after a tough time establishing himself at Liverpool, who he had joined in 2015 from Burnley.
He has started just eight games in all competitions for Liverpool in his time at Anfield, which has been hit with injury along the way.
“I’ve had such a tough time the last few years trying to break into a team that’s one of the best in Europe,” he added. “I’ve come away from Liverpool to challenge myself but I don’t think I could be at a better club.”
Hughes was encouraged by what he saw of Ings and praised him.
“You saw Danny’s clever play today, linking and retaining possession,” said the Southampton manager. “He allowed us to move further up the field and that augurs well. We’re looking forward to getting him up to speed.”
Hughes was pleased with Southampton’s overall performance against a side who finished seventh in the top flight last season. “I thought we got better as the game went on,” he added. “We changed it in the second and had any number of chances to win the game. We needed a bit of luck but overall I’m reasonably pleased.”
It was the season opener in the league for both sides, but was actually Burnley’s fourth game of the season due to their participation in the Europa League.
“It was a pleasing performance especially after a really tough away game on Thursday night, said Sean Dyche, the Burnley manager, in relation to his side’s goalless draw with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir.
Dyche admitted his side had been under pressure for much of the second half.
“We were good in possession and had a good shape,” he said of the first period.
“They came back into it after a change of shape and we had to show a different side to our team then as we have many times before. You to have a good mentality in the Premier League and we have a good balance of mentality and quality.”