RALPH Hasenhuttl believes his side's first-half performance merited their point against Leicester City, but admitted: "We could've lost this game."

Saints led 2-1 at the break against the Foxes with Jan Bednarek and Che Adams netting either side of a Jonny Evans strike.

But the game finished 2-2 with James Maddison bagging the goal of the night with neat footwork in the box before a powerful finish, just after Nathan Tella had headed a good chance wide for the hosts.

Harvey Barnes was denied by a brilliant Alex McCarthy save late on, with Jamie Vardy also blazing over the crossbar as the Foxes pushed for a winner, which never came.

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Asked if he feels it was a point gained or two dropped for Saints, boss Hasenhuttl said: "In the second half, they (Leicester) had big chances.

"In the first half you can say it was a deserved draw, because we were brilliant in the first half. They had one chance to score, we had very good moments and played fantastic, exactly what we wanted to do.

"It wasn’t so easy after the Liverpool game (4-0 defeat) to find a way back to a brave way of playing football, but we tried to push the reset button in this way. I think this is what we did."

He continued: "In the second half we had a big chance for the third goal and this is what we have to do in such a moment.

"This maybe would’ve made it a bit calmer.

"But in every position they have so much quality, make it so hard to defend. The big chances they had in the second half and we could’ve lost this game.

"So finally I think it was a deserved point and it was a very good game for everybody to watch.

"I would say for the fans it was a very intense game, with a lot of intensity and effort from both teams."