SAINTS boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said only one team came to play football at St James’ Park on Sunday.

The St Mary’s side were on top for large parts of the game but failed to take a handful of chances in front of goal, which is something Newcastle took full advantage of.

Danny Ings had given Saints the lead, only for Jonjo Shelvey and Federico Fernandez to cancel his strike out and win the game for the Magpies.

Hasenhuttl said: “I don’t know what my opponent [Steve Bruce] said before he was here, and I don’t know how he saw the game, but I saw only my team playing football to be honest.

“We didn’t get three points but that’s football sometimes, they had two chances and got the goals.

“That’s sometimes a pity but if we look on the three performances this week, two wins at home, and a brave game away from home, maybe our best of the season, I must be proud of how the players played.

“When the opponent was really struggling, they tried to play the long balls to [Andy] Carroll and that isn’t easy to defend as everybody knows he is 10 feet tall.

“It’s a pity we lost the game in the end because, even after the equaliser, we were playing football and we were creating chances again.

“We had a few ones after set-pieces where we missed the goal because they were just too short.”

Newcastle’s comeback victory ended Saints’ three-game unbeaten run and left them in the relegation zone.

It would have been the first time since the end of the 2015-16 season that the south coast side picked up three consecutive wins in the Premier League.

Despite this, Hasenhuttl has been given a lift by what he’s seen since the international break and believes his team will continue to improve.

“But when I see the team playing now it’s completely different and it gives me a lift,” added the Austrian.

“Although we didn’t take points today, we must look on the positive things: we stuck to the game plan and were creating chances.

“It was very calm in the stadium which was because of us and that is a compliment.

“In the end, the journey goes on.”