Southampton cult hero Jo Tessem has claimed that there’s one thing Wrexham need to improve on after they lost 2-1 at St Mary’s Stadium in their Championship opener.
The Red Dragons opened the scoring in the 22nd minute through Josh Windass’ penalty and were closing in to an opening-day victory on the English south coast.
However, Ryan Manning equalised in the 90th minute before Southampton broke Wrexham hearts with Jack Stephens’ winner in the sixth minute of injury time.
Tessem shared his verdict on the ending to the match and, in doing so, gave Phil Parkinson some food for thought regarding improvements.
Jo Tessem notes Wrexham players got tired late on
Tessem, speaking on BBC Radio Solent, noted after Southampton’s equaliser how tired Wrexham’s players looked.
“Southampton need to move the ball a little bit quicker and try and stretch Wrexham because they are so tired now,” he said, as per BBC Sport.
“It’s been one way traffic but it’s just that slowness on the ball but we have done all we can to get that second goal.”
Then, after Southampton found the late winner, Tessem added: “Fantastic.
“When that first goal went in from Ryan Manning you knew we could win it, you could see it in the Wrexham players. It was a fantastic free-kick.
“They got tired and we worked and worked. You need that fitness.”
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Barry Horne’s verdict
Wrexham legend Barry Horne gave his verdict on the Red Dragons’ performance on BBC Radio Wales.
“Southampton dominated the last half hour and they would have been desperate to win,” he said.
“Phil Parkinson and his players will have learnt a lot from that.”
Wrexham’s performance was solid overall, but the fitness levels were certainly a cause for concern – a number of fans on X picked up on this too.
However, it is the first game of the season, and fitness levels won’t necessarily be where they need to be, so this is something that should improve naturally within time.