OPINION
Mark Hughes is right to attempt to lower Southampton fans’ expectations of Danny Ings despite his promising display against Everton last weekend.
The current Saints manager spoke about the 5ft 8in tall forward (Source: Transfermarkt) ahead of his side’s game against Leicester City in his press conference on Thursday and effectively popped the hype bubble surrounding him.
“Danny is just looking to have a strong, solid season with plenty of games,” said Hughes, as quoted by the Daily Mirror.
“If he has that kind of season we know he can score goals, but we don’t want to place too many targets too soon as he is still coming back from a long time out. We have to be a little patient with him. He has the potential to score goals.
“He is a goal-scorer and a technical player as well who can link the play.
“That is something we need to be better at, because sometimes our ball retention at the top end of the pitch can be a little bit loose.”
Hughes’ desire to share that the club needed to be patient with him due to his recent injury record was the right move as it’s unrealistic for the club to rely on him to score the necessary goals at this stage.
Ings may have scored against the Toffees when making his full debut for the Saints after joining from Liverpool on transfer deadline day but he might not be up to scoring every week.
The 25-year-old’s last two campaigns have seen him spend the majority of his time in the treatment room trying to overcome serious knees injury.
While most players struggle to deal with one serious knee injury in their career, Ings has had to battle his way back from two serious knee problems.
The last thing the club will want is the forward to feel the pressure to deliver on the hype surrounding him and push himself too hard that it ends up seeing him back in the medical room following a set-back.
Ings may be medically cleared and raring to go now but injuries like the ones he has had in recent times always have a tendency to reoccur so expectations should not be set too high.
While the attacker clearly has all the potential to become the Saints’ top-scorer for many seasons to come if he ends up sticking around, patience is the best way to see that outcome occur.
Therefore Hughes is right to pop the Southampton hype bubble around Ings before fans get carried away after he had a very impressive full debut for the side against the Toffees.