LIONS ACE WARD FITS THE BILL FOR RALPH

RALPH HASENHUTTL revealed Southampton captain James Ward-prowse opted to return early from England duty in order to be fit for his side’s dramatic win over Burnley.

Ward-prowse, who played his 80th consecutive match for Saints, withdrew from Gareth Southgate’s squad with a calf strain having scored his first England goal in last week’s game against San Marino.

Hasenhuttl said the midfielder (top) had only taken part in one training session before the visit of Sean Dyche’s Clarets.

Hasenhuttl said: “Only yesterday he trained. I think he didn’t want to take the risk with internationals to be fit for us and I think that shows what it means for him to be captain for us.”

Danny Ings missed out on a Three Lions call-up through injury but he started his first Premier League game since the beginning of March. The

England ace showed exactly why Southampton are so desperate for him to sign a new contract by scoring Saints’ equaliser.

Hasenhuttl said: “I am happy to have him back fit on the pitch.

“He worked hard in the week. Normally it’s always dangerous to start with players who have been injured but he did a good job for a long time.”

The Austrian (left) felt that Burnley had become complacent after going two goals up and was full of praise for the openings his team created against a notoriously stubborn opposition.

He added: “The guys created a lot of chances against a team that don’t normally give you much. They have an amazing record when they go one up.

“It was a very deserved win because we had some very good chances to make it higher. Maybe they were a bit too sure they would win this game after the second goal.”