Every word Southampton manager Eckert said after 5-1 win over Millwall

Have to start with a first Saints goal for Fellows, pleased for him?

TE: Yes, I got asked the same question outside, and I think in the last season Tom has invested so much.

It's not easy if you have big expectations and ambitions for yourself as a player. The reality is there aren't many players that do as much as Tom does.

He's always in the gym after the training sessions, doing extras, but it's just a long time coming now, and I'm just so happy for him.

We've been trying to support him, and it's just the first time you go away from a club that you've grown up in, and you have a lot of new faces.

I think he had some excellent games last season; it was just the goal that was missing, and I'm very sure this is going to give him another boost.

What did you make of that excellent team performance?

TE: I think the reality is that these games live off moments. We decided today to choose an approach that we normally don't do in home games.

Maybe I haven't done the players a favour with that in the first 20 minutes because it took us a bit to get going, but sometimes it's a decision to take.

You want the highest chance of scoring goals, and against Millwall it's not easy; it's such a compact, physical team. He's one of the best managers.

With the way he sets up his games defensively, we decided to choose an approach that's a bit different to how we normally approach home games.

We needed 20 minutes to get going, but I think the crowd helped us to come over this period, and from minute 20 onwards I think we played very well.

What exactly did you change after the first 20 minutes?

TE: Not too much, but there are more and more teams now that bring a lot of players ahead of the ball, and sometimes you need to make a decision.

How many players do you want to defend, and how many players do you want to leave further up the pitch to then be able to attack bigger spaces?

I think normally we bring all players down, but today we've had a little different balance in the team, and it hurt us on the first goal.

Then we found a way to still put a little bit more pressure on; it's been a different role for our offensive players in a way that we wanted to press.

I think from minute 20 the game was very good in most moments.

Did the windy conditions make for a more chaotic start?

TE: Well, I agree, if you can get the game on the ground against Millwall, it definitely helps. That has a little bit to do with how you are in possession.

The conditions affect it when the ball is in the air, especially if you need to land on second balls and see how precise they can go into the last line.

I think it's been a solid performance and there's a lot more to come.

Must it have been hard for Millwall to stop your front four?

TE: Yes, and also some moments from how we managed to play out from the back, against, I think, one of the best pressing teams you will find.

For me, they play the best diamond in England. I haven't seen another team able to play so intensely against the ball, especially in the opposition half.

Yes, big compliment to the four boys up top, but I think there's also a lot more that happened from lower on the pitch, and we take all the positives.

But again, there's still a lot to improve.

What did you make of Schlotterbeck on his Saints debut?

TE: Yes, very good. It's not so easy when you come in on a Thursday, and then you do your medical, and you do media and everything.

At the same time, you need to focus on a game that you play in two days with lots of teammates whose names you don't even know.

I think it was good for him that the role against the ball was relatively simple because he just had to deal with a very good striker. It's not easy to do.

But it doesn't demand a lot from your brain, so then at the same time we can make sure that he gets some information about how we want to defend.

I think he's shown the quality he has on the ball. I think there were some very, very good moments today for how he came out from the back.

It gives us a different dimension having a left-footed player. I think it's very important for us to bring someone in to open up the game in a different way.

Overall, I think it was very positive.

How did you decide between dropping Wood or Stephens?

TE: You always keep going back and forward; it's not been an easy decision. Sometimes it's just a feeling that you have for how you approach a game.

It was a little bit more of a battle for our left-sided centre-half against the ball, and a bit more just protecting him behind for the one on the right side.

So the decision for today was Nathan and Keven.

What did you observe of Ward-Prowse's return today?

TE: It's not easy to come on at half-time, and it was last minute also because Flynn [Downes] was trying everything to get back on the pitch.

I think we've just seen the quality of a player he is, how much he can give us in moments on the ball. Yeah, very happy, very happy for him being with us.

He is a big presence for his experience. He knows the club inside out, even though a couple of things have changed over the last few years.

There are still a lot of familiar faces, and I think it's just so good to have him around. He's going to be, I think, very important for us this season.

Noticed he did not wear the armband or take the penalty?

TE: Let's give that boy some time, eh?

Was Downes taken off under the concussion protocol?

TE: No, it was a cut. We'll try everything to get him on the pitch on Tuesday.

Was Larin's second goal his best for the club so far?

TE: To be fair, I think if you asked him, he enjoyed the Wrexham one away, and that came with a nice knee slide after. But yeah, it's a top finish.

I think there are some things that you do as a striker when you're full of confidence, and you don't do when you don't have it.

That's just the reality, I think, for every number nine, and I think that he's able to and willing to take responsibility also for the team.

There's so much he does also off the pitch that is not seen publicly. It's just so good to have him in the building, and I think second finish is just class.

Was he disappointed to come off having not scored three?

TE: Well, there was a chance to score the hat-trick, and he didn't, so I took him off. I think that's on him.

Are you pleased with the resilience to come from behind?

TE: It's a continuous process. It's one that never stops. That one, I think, at the beginning of the season is one of the most important things.

You can prepare games as much as you want to. You can prepare games tactically and have the nicest idea, but the games come down to moments.

Then you obviously want to carry on and bring all of the positives from last season over into this year, but the reality is every year is new.

It's going to be a lot of work over the next weeks because I think that's the most important for us to be successful.

Are you happy to be off of minus points on the table?

TE: It doesn't hurt.

Is it something that you have been thinking about?

TE: Adam [Blackmore] asked me the same thing outside, but we've played three games now. I don't know if this is the time to look at the table.

But yes, we're chasing. We knew that we needed to chase this year. We've shown that we are capable of doing that. It doesn't hurt to have some points.