Southampton manager Ronald Koeman rues early missed chances against Villa

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman rued his side's missed chances in the 1-1 draw with bottom side Aston Villa.

Oriol Romeu cancelled out Joleon Lescott's opener at St Mary's but the Saints missed several first-half chances to take the lead.

They are now without a win in four games in all competitions, but despite the disappointing result the Dutchman praised his players' character to equalise. 

He told Sky Sports: "Finally it's a point but we made it difficult for ourselves. We started the game well, had three or four chances to score.

"The goal goes to the other side, which makes it more difficult. The boys showed great character to come back.

Report: Saints 1-1 Villa

Bottom club Aston Villa held Southampton to a hard-fought 1-1 draw at St Mary's

"We draw the game, but I think we deserve more, with all the chances we created during the match. But it's about scoring goals, and that was not the case today."

"If you start so well and get those kind of opportunities to score and don't score, it's difficult. If you are in the situation after some defeats in a row, and you start well, but go in 1-0 down, it asks a lot about the mental strengths of the team, and they showed that strength.

"We worked well, made it 1-1, and did everything we could to win the game."

Villa, without a win in the Premier League in 14 games, lost 6-1 at St Mary's towards the end of last season, with the Saints 5-1 up at half-time, but Koeman believes his side played better in the opening periods this time around. 

"We remember last year when we were 4-0 up against Villa, we didn't start better than today, but that's football. It's all about details, but if you start that well, you have to score.

"It's the first time in two seasons that we concede a goal from a corner kick. That's not good, we need to improve again, normally that's one of the strengths of the team."