Jose Fonte praises "excellent" Maya Yoshida

Southampton defender Jose Fonte has hailed fellow centre-back Maya Yoshida for his performance during Tuesday's win at Hull City in the Premier League.

The Saints came away from the KC Stadium with a 1-0 victory thanks to a late goal from Fonte.

However, the Portuguese has heaped praise on teammate Yoshida for helping to keep Hull strikers Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic at bay.

"I thought Maya was excellent," Fonte told the Southern Daily Echo. "Very, very good, very strong, good in the air - he was faultless, so great credit to him.

"Jelavic and Long are two of the best strikers in the Premier League in my opinion.

"We dug deep, I thought we showed a lot of character and desire and belief in the way we play, and we got the reward with the three points and a very important clean sheet."

Southampton return to action on Saturday when they travel to Sunderland in the FA Cup fifth round.