Emile Smith Rowe admitted Fulham began badly at Southampton yesterday – but the substitute was delighted with the way the Whites ‘turned it on’ in the second half to secure a vital three points.

The attacking midfielder played a pivotal part in Fulham’s comeback, scoring the equaliser just six minutes after being sent on by Marco Silva and adding a new dimension to the visitors’ play in the final third. Speaking to FFCTV after the final whistle at St. Mary’s, Smith Rowe said:

“We didn’t start at our best, but in the second half we turned it on and getting the three points was the most important thing. It was quite a passionate team talk at half time. I think we knew the first half wasn’t good enough, so we wanted to come out in the second half and put in a performance and I think we did that.

Coming on when you’re losing, it is always difficult, but you want to come on and try create things and try and score goals. That’s what I tried to do today – and we’ve got the three points. I’m happy that I’m back with the team and happy that I could help them [win]. In football you have to get lucky sometimes – and, you know, yeah, sometimes that’s literally what happens. Alex [Iwobi] played a good ball and I tried to stay calm because I wanted to equalise, so we could get the win.”

Smith Rowe offered plenty of praise to his former England under-21 international team-mate Ryan Sessegnon, who scored the stoppage-time winner with a superb header.

“It was a good time to get the goal and Ryan’s obviously scored the winner. I couldn’t be happier for him – he deserves it so much. He’s been working so hard and since coming into the team, he’s probably been our best player, so I’m really happy for him. I’m not surprised because he’s been doing it since we were [very] young!”

The ex-Arsenal man touched on how special it would be to take the Whites into continental competition but acknowledged the enormity of the task ahead:

“It would mean a lot [after] coming here, understanding the project. I knew there was that ambition from the team and manager. It would be exciting to get into Europe, but we have to take each game as we can and keep going. There are four big finals left and we have to carry on.”