'Outstanding' - Southampton boss shares Henrik Pedersen verdict ahead of Sheffield Wednesday clash
Sheffield Wednesday will be in for a very stern test when Southampton visit Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon.
Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert has said he believes Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen has dealt with the club’s difficult situation this season “in an outstanding way” ahead of his side’s visit to Hillsborough on Saturday.
The Saints will make the long trip north looking to capitalise on Wednesday’s current struggles to try and strengthen their play-off aspirations. Their 5-0 win over QPR on Tuesday night saw them climb up to seventh in the table and to within four points of the play-offs.
Eckert’s troops, following a difficult period between mid-December and mid-January, have been excellent in recent weeks, winning five of their last seven Championship outings, meaning their sluggish start to the campaign under former boss Will Still is now a distant memory.
Finding themselves in such terrific form, the Saints are overwhelming favourites to scoop all three points at Hillsborough and claim a third successive away league win for the first time in more than six years.
Despite that, Eckert, speaking during his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, took the opportunity to praise Pedersen and the job he has done at Hillsborough this season in the most difficult of circumstances.
”Yeah, it's not been an easy situation,” Eckert said, as quoted by the Daily Echo. “I think he's dealt with it in an outstanding way. I've known him for a couple of years now.
“I think he's a very, very good manager. I think that the teams are always very well prepared. Obviously, they've had some changes in terms of players over the season.
“I think he's always been able to put a competitive team out on the pitch. Big admiration for the job that he's done.”
Eckert makes Pedersen admission
Like Pedersen, Eckert has also previously worked at Red Bull Salzburg. Although they never worked together at the Austrian outfit, their paths have crossed elsewhere.
“He left Red Bull Salzburg before I came in, and then he went to Berlin,” Eckert continued. “He's been in the town I'm from. We've crossed paths a couple of times.
“We've had some nice conversations on the first time that we met here in England. He's done an unbelievable job as an assistant for many years and now as a manager. So again, I'm a big, big fan of his work.”
Having won four of their last five Championship matches, Southampton will be overwhelming favourites to inflict a 12th successive Championship defeat on the Owls on Saturday afternoon. However, Eckert is not taking anything for granted.
The Saints boss added: “I think that's been one of our strengths over the last few weeks, that we attack every single game, and we need to make sure we do the same thing tomorrow.
“They don't come off a good spell of results now, but it's also true that most of the games were very close. For the moment that they're in, they've been outstanding over the last few weeks.”