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Southampton manager Will Still has disclosed how Hugo Ekitike predicted he would emerge as a match-winning substitute as Liverpool triumphed 2-1 at Anfield in the Carabao Cup third round. The French forward entered the fray for the second period with the Reds holding a 1-0 advantage courtesy of Alexander Isak's maiden strike for the club.
However, the Premier League pacesetters were hauled back by Shea Charles' equaliser before Ekitike converted a decisive late winner for Arne Slot's outfit. Ekitike, who received his marching orders following his celebration for removing his jersey, previously featured under Still during their spell together at Reims.
The Belgian-born manager revealed the specifics of a pre-match discussion between the duo, where Liverpool's No. 22 declared he would enter proceedings and find the net.
"Hugo cracks me up," Still said of his former player. "We caught up before the game and he said he would come on and score and give me his shirt and bugger off!
"We sold him to PSG so we knew he had a lot about him. He is a constant threat and incredibly annoying to play against."
Still, whose Southampton outfit have endured difficulties in the Championship following relegation last season, continued: "I think we are going in the right direction and tonight was progress.
"It is just a shame we have made basic and avoidable mistakes, which overshadows a lot of the good things we did in the first half. Our organization, our threat, we showed a bit of personality.
"We had a massive chance, hit the crossbar, somehow not the ball in the back of the net and 30-40 seconds they have gone up the other end and we have put it in on a plate for them.
"It sums up our season so far. We seem to keep shooting ourselves in the foot.
"But I am happy with the collective, happy with a lot of players but there is no denying we need to eradicate those mistakes we are making."
Meanwhile, Andy Robertson pulled no punches with his verdict on Ekitike's dismissal, saying: "His first one is stupidity, kicking the ball away, we know the rules around that. Two silly bookings to pick up and now we miss him for Saturday.
"It's silly from his part but he's only young and he will learn from it. Happy that he scored but the last ten minutes were made a bit more difficult being down to ten men. He will learn from it and I am sure he won't do it again."
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