Ipswich Town: Wes Burns reveals how Town shut out Southampton

The Blues picked up all three points on the South Coast thanks to Omari Hutchinson's first-half strike, taking them up to second place ahead of tonight's fixtures with six wins from seven games.

“For us to come away from home, back-to-back on Saturday and now tonight, and grind out 1-0 wins, it’s a sign of a good team," Burns said after the match.

“We came here tonight and stuck to our principles and stuck to our disciplined shape. We knew that we could hurt them if we shut up shop, and that was the end result.

“Their manager has been at MK Dons, Swansea and now Southampton, so we knew that the structures and the ways that they play would be very similar. They’re a very possession-based team, you’ve got full-backs rolling into midfield. We knew that blocking the middle and not letting any passes through would be key tonight.

“We tried to make sure that everything went down the sides and we could defend from there. I think we did that for the whole game.

“When you keep clean sheets and you’ve got the quality that we have up front, you’ll always have a chance of winning.”

It was a particularly special night for Hutchinson, who made his first senior start in place of Nathan Broadhead, who dropped to the bench.

Burns praised Omari Hutchinson's work ethic after his goal against Southampton (Image: Stephen Waller)

The Chelsea loanee put in a superb performance, but the crowning moment came when he put in a strong challenge on Shea Charles to win the ball, playing a one-two with Conor Chaplin before firing a shot into the net off the post.

“I’m really, really proud of him,” Burns admitted.

“He’s come in from Chelsea, he’s got his head down and worked his socks off. He deserved the start tonight and he deserved the goal.

“It topped off a brilliant away performance.”

Another key moment came in the second half, when Southampton tried to switch the momentum after Ipswich ended the first half on top.

Adam Armstrong brought the ball forward down the left, but he was stopped by Burns, who rushed in from behind with a high two-footed challenge at full speed. Incredibly, he won the ball and stopped the attack, epitomising the way the Blues approached the second half in a single tackle.

“It’s not my art of the game, to be fair, tackling, so you’re lucky that I did time it quite well!" he laughed.

“It’s one of those ones where, even if I don’t win the ball, it’s a good professional foul because they were breaking through the field, so it’s one of those things where if I don’t get it right, I take one for the team and it’s alright.”

WATCH: Stu and Alex react to Town's impressive win away at Southampton

Given the fact that Town went into the break with a one-goal lead, the second half played out like many people expected. Southampton dominated the ball with 59% possession, as Russell Martin sides often do, but they were let down by their poor finishing.

The Saints managed 13 shots compared to Ipswich's 11, but both sides ended up with just three on target. The Blues were able to take one of those chances, however, while the hosts never really looked like scoring, which Burns believes is down to the way his side prepared for the game.

“There’s a misconception where, when a team has a lot of possession, it feels like we’re under the cosh," the winger argued. "It’s very different when you’re out there.

“We have such a strong, disciplined shape, so we knew exactly what they were going to do before they were doing it. It was easy to read where their passes were going, and you saw a lot of the time that they were kicking balls away, off the field or straight to us, because we’re shutting angles that we know they want to play.

Burns came close to scoring his first Championship goal of the season in the win at Southampton (Image: Steve Waller)

“I think the goal comes from a brilliant, disciplined press. We could’ve had a couple more off the back of it.”

The win also marks Town's fourth clean sheet of the campaign, with two of those coming in the last two games. It's a major relief for supporters, many of whom were concerned by the goals they conceded against Leeds United and Cardiff City.

Burns, however, believes that they're a natural part of stepping up to the Championship, explaining that they've put in significant work over the last few weeks to prevent individual mistakes.

“We’re all humans, so human error will always be a part of football," he admitted. "There were a couple of sloppy mistakes for goals before the international break, but they’re just part and parcel of football. You’re going to make mistakes.

“We’re in the Championship now, and there’s a lot of high-quality players. We probably would’ve gotten away with a few of them last year, but this year we can’t. If anything, it’s taught us a lesson that we’ve got to be switched on mentally for a lot longer.”