Saints fans were pleased to see the name Danny Ings on the substitutes bench at Brighton, but they were even more pleased to see the affect that he had on the team, not just with his goal, but the way we suddenly had energy.

Saints are not a one man team, we can win games without Danny Ings as we showed when we beat Newcastle in his absence, but the truth is we are a far better side when he is in it.

Ralph Hasenhuttl recognised that when he brought him on at half time against Brighton and before he had barely kicked a ball, you could see that there was a surge in confidence and energy that had been lacking in the first half.

Che Adams had looked a little short of that energy, in the first half he seemed to be a yard short too often, but with Ings on the pitch suddenly it all picked up.

It wasn't just the Saints players who were affected, Brighton players seemed to be a little more wary of us when he was on the pitch, mentally they were afraid to pour forward knowing that he could punish them.

Even at the back he changed things, early on Brighton hit a free kick into the box and it was Ings who made the header, in the first half too often balls had gone across unchallenged and it was only poor finishing that meant that they didn't punish us.

Of course his goal was great to see, but it was a lot lot more than that, the good news that apart from a little ring rustiness he looked sharp and not afraid to go in and get hurt, this must bode well going forward.

So welcome back Danny Ings King OF The Scummers.

Photo: Action Images

Bettwsresident added 14:07 - Dec 8 It was superb to see him on the subs bench and 1 days training, and then to come on at half time and play like that.....just fabulous. With his injury record you fear the worst, but in this case I think we can hope for the best. If he can play 30 games, that is 20+ goals; difference between top 6 and mid table for saints. King of the Scum...I love him.
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Sanguin added 14:20 - Dec 8 I felt our tactics were to use less energy in the first half. You could see we were pressing less aggressively. But Djnepo was responsible for a lot of our attacks breaking up, which meant we looked listless. The second half was a lot better, which I think is the first time this season we've been able to say that.
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kingslandstand1 added 16:08 - Dec 8 Just get him signed up to that contract extension!
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