Ivan Juric not giving up hope of keeping Southampton in Premier League

Ivan Juric has not given up hope of Southampton still being a Premier League club next season after they revived their faint survival prospects with a late 2-1 win at Ipswich.

This bottom-of-the-table clash looked destined to finish all square after Ipswich hitman Liam Delap struck after 31 minutes to cancel out Joe Aribo’s opener at Portman Road.

A point did little for either team and as the seconds ticked away Kieran McKenna’s men looked more likely to claim a late winner, but they were stunned when Paul Onuachu fired in after Arijanet Muric spilled Kamaldeen Sulemana’s low effort three minutes from time.

Southampton move onto nine points and eight away from 19th-placed Ipswich with a first league victory in three months and while time is running out to pull off a great escape, veteran head coach Juric remains optimistic.

Juric reflected: “It is important for the players, for the fans and I think we deserve it. Before we did some really good games against Manchester (United) and West Ham, but we didn’t do the points.

“Today we suffered a little bit more but great character and quality in the final and we won the game.

“I told them tomorrow morning we have training and we have to believe that we are not so bad as it seems and try to win other games.

“We have to believe. We have to play every time like this and working hard during the week and then we’ll see.

“As you see today we are fighting. We don’t want to give up and we have character. We want to play like we did today.”

When asked how he would celebrate his first three points in the Premier League, Juric smiled: “Of course red wine. I will start with red wine and then we will see.”

Southampton were boosted at Ipswich by the return of teenage starlet Tyler Dibling after injury and while he remained an unused substitute, Juric is hopeful he will still be at the club after the transfer window shuts on Monday.

“I think Dibling will stay. I hope so. There is no news and he can be really important for us,” Juric insisted.

Hosts Ipswich were left to reflect on a missed opportunity with a victory set to take them out of the bottom three.

Town boss Kieran McKenna acknowledged: “Yes, it’s a really poor result for us, no doubt about it, especially on the balance of play and the feel of the game.

“It felt like it was definitely a game that was there for us to win. I thought we were the better team, but it’s not really any consolation at this moment. Today was about of course picking up points.

“We don’t defend the situation well and it’s a late goal against us. So, it’s a really poor outcome to the game.

“There were some good things in the game, but I think they get lost in the result today and we’re very frustrated.”