Reported Tottenham Hotspur target Danny Ings is struggling for freshness and form in front of goal, Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl tells Hampshire Live.
With an eighth defeat in nine Premier League games leaving the Saints glancing nervously over their shoulder at the relegation zone, an under-pressure Austrian will be praying that his star striker rediscovers that Midas Touch sooner rather than later.
Ings has scored just once in his last eight Premier League games and drew a blank once again in Monday’s narrow defeat to Everton – not that he was exactly overloaded with opportunities.
Southampton managed just one shot on target throughout the entire game – and that came right at the death when Jannik Vestergaard was denied an equaliser by a sprawling Jordan Pickford save.
“It was tough to score and at the moment we are a little bit short of goals and this makes winning games difficult,” Hasenhuttl explains, rueing a glorious miss from Moussa Djenepo with just a few minutes remaining at Goodison Park.
“Our best chance was for Moussa I think when he was free in the box to score. Jannik also had a chance. We have at the moment definitely in front not always the best decisions in the final third.
“The final punch is not there in the one against one. Ingsy is a little bit short of freshness it seems and cannot score at the moment and we miss his goals, definitely. He is the guy normally who gives us the lead.”
According to talkSPORT, Tottenham are keen to offer the £20 million England international a fresh start away from St Mary’s, with Ings seemingly reluctant to extend a contract that is due to expire in the summer of 2022.
Is is time at Southampton destined to end with a whimper?
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