Southampton match-winner Ward-Prowse reveals special present players will buy interim boss Selles after Chelsea victory
PINPOINT James Ward-Prowse has revealed Southampton’s stars will buy interim boss Ruben Selles a new suit for this Chelsea raid.
The set-piece specialist scored a 25-year free-kick as rock bottom Saints won at Stamford Bridge and completed the league double over the Blues for the first time since 1987/88.
It was his 17th goal scored from a dead-ball situation and moves him one behind David Beckham’s Premier League record of 18.
Spaniard Selles, 39, who wore a suit, trendy trainers and a black rollneck, was serenaded by the away fans for this stunning victory and in response, the dressing-room are going to get him new ‘clobber’.
Ward-Prowse, 28, who marked the win with his signature golf-swing celebration, said: “I’m really pleased for him. He came into the club this week.
“He has given us real stability and a calmness. That is what we have needed,
“It’s a young squad, so to be able to do deal with those things are difficult. But he has given us a familiar way of playing.
“I wasn’t too sure about the suit when we saw it in the meeting. He joked in the pre-match meeting that we would have buy him a new suit if we won.
“So, we will be off down to the local suit shop to get him a nice one.
“This is a special moment, a special day for us as a club, and hopefully a springboard to turn things round.
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“We have to make sure that we give 100% no matter who the manager is. That’s the task. To do that consistently over the next few games would be massive.”
Whisper it quietly around Old Trafford but there is an argument that Ward-Prowse hits the ball more sweetly and deadly than Goldenballs Becks, 47, ever did in his pomp for Manchester United.
Ward-Prowse said: “It’s a lot of work, a lot of effort, but the rewards come and hopefully it will lead us towards wins and points.
“There is definitely an air of confidence when I strike a free-kick because I have done the practice,
“I have done the pressure moments in training. It’s up to me to go and deliver them.
“When I was a young kid in my mum and dad’s garden that was the aim – to be like David Beckham.
“To put in the work and the hours validates that hard work and hopefully there is more to come.
“I was watching the golf documentary the whole day about Matt Fitzpatrick logging every shot that he takes.
“I think I better start doing that with free-kicks and taking some stats into it. We will see.”