Ronald Koeman: 'Poor start cost Everton chance of victory'

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has blasted his side for their "really poor" start to the match after seeing more points slip away in their meeting with Southampton.

The Dutchman endured a disappointing return to his former club, as Charlie Austin's goal inside the opening minute proved to be the difference between the two sides in a 1-0 home win.

Everton could only manage one shot on target across the 90 minutes at St Mary's, compared to Southampton's seven, and Koeman admits that the early concession of a goal changed the whole complexion of the game.

"We know Saints are a good team - they play in Europe and have very good players," he told BBC Sport. "Their system hasn't changed much [since Koeman was manager] - the goalkeeper and defensive players are the same and are still strong.

"We had good chances but they had better chances to score and our start was really poor because even the kickoff was ours and we lost the ball too fast.

"Obviously after they scored within the first minute, they will then drop back, defend and wait for the counter and that's what they did. Having said that, I can't complain about our second half but if you don't score, you can't win."

Everton, now with one league win in their last eight, find themselves nine points adrift of the top four.