FORWARD Adam Armstrong praised Saints’ togetherness after his late goal secured a 2-1 win over West Brom on Saturday. 

The 26 year old was on hand at the back post to convert Ryan Fraser’s cross in the 79th minute.

It was Armstrong’s ninth goal of the season - with seven of those coming at home - the second-highest total behind Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics.

The win means Southampton extend their unbeaten run to eight games and head into the international break nine points off the top spot after Leicester dropped points.

Speaking to the club's media about his winning goal, the skipper said: "I’ve seen Ryan out wide and I knew he was going to cross it because that’s what he’s good at doing. 

"It’s just being in the right positions in the box. I’ve seen it quite late, coming over the heads, but it was nice to put it away.

“It’s definitely not a coincidence – you see the way we play, we stick to the game plan from the first minute to the 90th minute.

“It’s not a coincidence we’re scoring late goals because of how relentless we’re being during the games. 

"That was another tough game today, but the main thing is the three points before the break is huge. The lads get a little rest now, it’s quality.”

West Brom came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and looked the most likely to score before Kyle Bartley cancelled out Will Smallbone's early strike.

Although Saints were able to bounce back to earn three points, Armstrong was still left disappointed by how they started the second half.

He continued: “I thought first half we were excellent, stuck to the game plan, and played through them quite a lot.

"It was just speeding it up in the final third – when to make the runs in behind and when to create chances.

“The second half, it’s not like us, we usually start fast second half. For some reason we didn’t do that, we made it hard for ourselves, but what a group, what characters in that dressing room to see out the win.

“Gav pulled off a great save at the end. It just shows the togetherness of the club at the minute.

"The lads and everyone are together, and when you’re going through good stages, good things happen."