Redmond’s the spark for Saints

Mauricio Pellegrino praised Nathan Redmond’s response to his face-off with Pep Guardiola after the midfielder helped Southampton rescue a point at Bournemouth.

Redmond was left on the bench by Pellegrino at the Vitality Stadium yesterday, but came on at half-time to set-up an equaliser for Charlie Austin (pictured) in an entertaining 1-1 draw.

Earlier, Ryan Fraser had given Bournemouth the lead, but Saints were muchimproved after Redmond’s introduction.

Pellegrino insisted he had no issue with Guardiola lecturing his player following Wednesday’s defeat to Manchester City and he was pleased with Redmond’s reaction.

“Am I pleased? Yes, for sure. He played well and our reaction in the second half was good, especially in the wide areas where we arrived many times making chances,” said Pellegrino

On whether Redmond felt any extra motivation, Pellegrino added: “I don’t think so, it’s just a comment, one comment will not change the performance of one player. The most important thing is how we played in the second half.”

Southampton have managed only 15 goals in 15 Premier League games, but Austin’s form could offer a solution to their attacking problems.

Austin, making only his second league start this term, now has three goals in three matches and the 28-year-old posed a threat throughout.

“The confidence in one striker is something that is really difficult to train or to buy,” Pellegrino said.

“And you really need some experience, you need to score goals. When you’ve got some player in this moment it’s really good news.”

While Saintsmoved up to 11th place, Bournemouth rose to 14th, five points clear of the drop zone.

Boss Eddie Howe said: “We’re disappointed overall, but you have to acknowledge that Southampton did do very well at times in the second half.

“Ultimately, we became strong again and we could have nicked it at the end.”