MANAGER Ralph Hasenhuttl described as “like chess” Saints’ hard-fought 1-1 draw at Wolves.

Theo Walcott had put the St Mary’s side in front on 58 minutes at Molineux, before Pedro Neto came off the bench to pounce with quarter of an hour left for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

The draw extended to seven games Saints’ unbeaten run, with Hasenhuttl’s men sitting fifth in the top-flight table.

Giving his assessment of the contest, in which Wolves lined up with an unexpected back four, the Austrian manager said: “It was not easy. You have seen the game and how intense it was.

“Tactically, it was like chess. Both managers definitely found solutions to cause the other one problems. It was a tough game for everybody.

“Especially in the end you could see they had another gear to go and they are a very good, international, team – they have a lot of quality in front.

“In the end it was tough fight. We had the match point I think with Theo’s second chance, when he makes the chance to win this game. If it was deserved – I don’t think so, but I always like undeserved wins.”

Wolves boss Nuno added: “It was a good game, a very intense game.

“A good tempo from both teams, a good game of football.

“In the first half we wanted to play better, but Southampton are a very good team, they press very well, they play good football. We were better second half.

“We reacted very well to their goal. We wanted to go for it and created chances and at the same time we were very aggressive when they could counter-attack.”