Source: PA
Irvine bemoans defending
Sheffield Wednesday boss Alan Irvine was bitterly frustrated with his side's defending in the run-up to Southampton's goal in the 1-0 defeat at Hillsborough.
Lee Barnard's 61st-minute effort came about after some woeful Wednesday defending which started when Lewis Buxton put in a short pass to Darren Porter which the Saints exploited fully to give the visitors a lead they never looked like surrendering.
Irvine said: "I'm bitterly disappointed obviously. I felt we were quite comfortable at the time that we gave the goal away and without it I thought we could have won the game. The mistake we made for the goal did make life even more difficult for us.
"I don't think any doubt that when we lost the goal a lot of the players lost confidence. We were very open when he gave it away. Lewis certainly shouldn't have passed it where he passed it and maybe it wouldn't have happened had he been playing at full-back.
"I don't want to say that everything is OK because we nearly scored some goals. Every manager is under pressure. You are under pressure when you are winning never mind when you are winning. Of course, it's a situation we are all under pressure but we have to do is cope with it and try and turn things around.
"We need something to turn around for us after our recent run but the players are going to need to show mental toughness to get out of it."
