Saints must 'kick on' after QPR win - Stephens

Southampton secured their first Championship win in seven games on Wednesday with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Queens Park Rangers in their first fixture since the sacking of manager Will Still.

With Under 21s boss Tonda Eckert in charge of the first team temporarily, club captain Jack Stephens was recalled to the starting 11 for the first time since September.

"It always means a lot to me when I play for the club," Stephens told BBC Radio Solent.

"It's a great group and that's why it's difficult when we get doubted. But we deserve to be doubted with the performances that we've put in."

Southampton's winless run of form included three losses on the bounce prior to the win at QPR. Saints sit 19th in the Championship but are just eight points from the play-off places.

"We're all responsible for the start of the season that we've had, it's nowhere near good enough for this football club and we want to turn things around," Stephens said.

"We've had to really stick at it and try and switch that momentum and hopefully tonight we've done that with that result and can kick on for the rest of the season."

Interim manager Eckert made a winning start in charge and put his stamp on the team by making four changes to the starting line-up, recalling Stephens and putting Gavin Bazunu in goal in place of Alex McCarthy.

"It comes from a gut feeling sometimes. It definitely wasn't a decision against Alex because he's done excellent, it was a decision for Gav," Eckert explained to BBC Radio Solent.

After notching a win, Saints host Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (15:00 BST) looking to get back-to-back league victories for the first time this season.

"We want to become a winning team and for that we need to invest every single day and go again on Saturday," said Eckert.

"My job is to prepare the team in the best way possible for today and for Saturday."

Listen to the full interviews with Stephens and Eckert and more Saints on Sounds.