Puel feels Saints were unlucky in San Siro defeat

CLAUDE Puel revealed his frustration at Southampton’s inability to score the goal he felt they deserved during their 1-0 Europa League defeat at Inter Milan.

Antonio Candreva’s exceptional second-half strike secured an important victory for Inter at the San Siro that prevented their visitors from building a lead at the top of Group K.

One of the most glamorous fixtures in Southampton’s history concluded with them third from four, although they could have taken a significant step towards reaching the knockout stages.

Despite being reduced to 10 men after Marcelo Brozovic’s red card, Inter held on to pick up their first points.

Puel made six changes from the starting XI he had selected in Sunday’s 3-1 defeat of Burnley — an injury suffered by Matt Targett meant one was forced upon him — which included goalscorers Charlie Austin and Nathan Redmond.

Asked if those changes had disrupted his team, the manager responded: “No. I think if you can play a very good game . . . we have all the time fresh players to play good football. This is very, very important.

“Not all the players can play good football (if they play every game). It’s important to consider all the players. We want to go for the qualification with all the squad and not just 11 players.

“We can see we played a good game with the quality against Inter away, it is difficult to think and to answer the question. It’s a very, very good game and unlucky. We are just unlucky.

“We do good work and with all the many chances we can play very good on the ground with quality, and just need a goal to be rewarded for all this good play. It is a frustration.”