Will Still defends Damion Downs after Southampton ace misses golden chance, ‘we just need to help…’

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Southampton splashed the cash on Damion Downs this summer, but the young striker has come in for some criticism this week after a bad miss in front of goal.

If there’s one thing Southampton struggled for last season it’s goals. It figures, then, that one of the first things they did this summer was to pay big for Damion Downs.

The 21-year-old joined the Saints for a fee of around £7m and remains the biggest Southampton signing this summer so far.

In midweek, he was handed a starting berth in the Carabao Cup against Northampton, but came away without a goal and with a golden opportunity missed.

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What Will Still said about Damion Downs

Will Still has been impressed with Downs already, sharing praise for the young striker in pre-season. But in the latest game, the Saints boss has had to jump to the defence of his star forward.

In the first half, with the scores still at 0-0, Downs was fed the ball across the box and from about six yards out, couldn’t quite get his feet in order and fumbled a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring.

Speaking after the game, Will Still said: “It’s very early days for him. He’s literally been in the building for a couple of weeks. We just need to help him not overthink situations and not get confused as to what he’s really good at.”

To be fair to Downs, the ball does come in just behind him and it would take an incredible adjustment to stop that momentum and get set for a clean strike.

Southampton went on to win the game thanks to a goal from Mateus Fernandes, who has been linked with West Ham this week.

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Damion Downs has potential to challenge for the Golden Boot this season

We’re sure the young USA striker will bounce back from that miss and open his account for Southampton very soon.

Downs already made an impact last week in the win over Wrexham with an assist, and he showed last season that he has an abundance of goals in him. He scored 11 goals across the campaign with FC Koln.

We’d back Downs to be one of the best young players to watch in the Championship this season, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up in the conversation for the Championship Golden Boot, too.

Once Southampton really find their rhythm under Still and Downs settles into the English game, he could be very dangerous indeed.