SAINTS under-21s boss Tonda Eckert was delighted with how his side dug deep to secure a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid at St Mary's.

Eckert, who took over the under-21s in the summer, was deeply proud of how his team stayed in the game during a period of dominance from the Spanish side.

And he had no shame in admitting that his side knew La Fábrica would be an extremely hard opponent, but this did not change their mindset approaching the game.

Real Madrid looked as though they would take all three points back to Spain after Thiago Pitarch's strike from the edge of the box handed them the lead with 15 minutes to go.

However, Saints had other ideas, and buoyed by nearly 11,000 supporters, they found one of the most unlikely equalisers ever scored at St Mary's.

It came from a Gavin Bazunu header that ricocheted off the crossbar into the path of Abdul Okunola, who gladly pounced on the rebound from three yards out.

“Just like every game, we go in there to win, so the preparation was...