Southampton midfielder Shea Charles has admitted that joining Saints in the summer was the right move for him, despite how hard it was to leave boyhood club Manchester City.
The Northern Ireland international signed for Southampton this summer for a reported fee of £9 million in search of regular game time, and he started twice and featured in four Championship games in total so far this season.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, he said: “It’s my boyhood club so it wasn’t easy but it was clear that Southampton was the right option for me.
“The manager plays a good style of football and it really suits me so that really attracted me to the club.
“I think the move is huge because I’m playing against men every week which coming into the (international) camp allows me to come in and go straight into the games and be able to play like I like to play.”
Shea Charles on Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland lost 4-2 to Slovenia on Thursday evening which all but ended their qualification hopes, and Charles was disappointed.
“I thought we were good going forward but then when we scored it was like we would then concede straight away. It was quite frustrating, we lost any momentum we had so there were positives and negatives to take.
“It’s a frustrating one because we went with four at the back. We’re used to five at the back. We expected to be better going forward which was good but we were maybe a bit more vulnerable and they had two good strikers so it was tough on that part.”
On his own performance, Charles added: “I thought I did alright, I thought I did well, just playing that sitting role (in midfield) which I like and then going to right back in the end. I can play in other positions so I thought I did alright.”