Simon Rask praised the players' dedication and said Southampton's performance at St Mary's was outstanding.  

Southampton were forced to play defensively for much of the match, but they stuck to their game plan and managed to limit City's attacking play without leaving any clear-cut chances. Simon Rask believes the draw was the result of his continued efforts to improve the team's defence since he was appointed interim manager in early April.  

Simon Rask said: "We have really worked hard over the last five weeks. We have been looking for small improvements and have been accumulating points. We almost won the game against West Ham United and we almost got a point against Fulham, even though they were strong teams.  

"Today we faced one of the best teams in the world and we showed a more comprehensive, more stable and more compact performance. I believe we deserved this valuable point."  

"I'm very proud of the players and very happy for the fans. I think they played very well today. I hope everyone can enjoy this wonderful moment on Saturday night. After taking over the team, my first task was to limit the opponent's creation of high-quality offensive opportunities. I think this is exactly what the players need to help them continue to improve in their games and find more opportunities on the offensive end."  

"I think we didn't put enough pressure on City, which was a challenge for a team that was in good form and had several players coming back from injury."  

"The effort and commitment from the players was outstanding and today was about self-respect and discipline. We have to make sure everyone is ready to play with humility and quality because defending is a quality and concentration is a quality and that was at the core of our performance today."  

"I enjoy the process of improving and working with the team, it's been really tough and I've been under a lot of pressure in the last few weeks in very difficult circumstances."  

"I think my job is to stay calm. Last Saturday was a very difficult game but we have to keep working hard and we are still fighting for more points. There are two important games coming up but I will stay calm and I am already thinking about how to help the team prepare for next week's game."