West Ham head coach Graham Potter admitted Southampton were fully deserving of their 1-1 draw as he criticised his side's poor display.

Jarrod Bowen's goal two minutes after the restart looked to have given the Hammers the win despite a mostly average performance.

The Premier League's bottom side had chances throughout the match, with Tyler Dibling missing from close range 10 minutes from the end before Leslie Ugochukwu fired in a brilliant volley in injury time to hand Saints a point.

Potter believed his side's display was a step back after the battling performance against Liverpool last week.

"I'm really disappointed," Potter told the club's media channels.

"Obviously, conceding late again is another kick, but if we're honest, I think Southampton deserved their equaliser as our performance wasn't up to level.

"We're frustrated, is the honest truth. We thought we took a step forward against Liverpool, but today it wasn't good enough."

The Hammers are now without a win in their last six league games, their worst winless streak since a similar run at the beginning of 2024.

This was also the first time they have scored first at home and not gone on to win in the Premier League this season.

West Ham are 16th after 33 games, just one point above Wolves, having played a game more, and Potter admits his side just need to power through to get to the end of the season and then regroup.

He added: "At the moment we're suffering. It's a season where it's been tough, tough for everybody, so we have to keep going through this difficult patch, get through to the summer and reassess everything and see how we can improve."

Southampton have now failed to win in their last 18 Premier League matches against teams from London (D5 L13) in a run that stretches back to February 2023, scoring 12 and conceding 46.

It was a point that has seen them move to 11, levelling Derby County's tally from 2007-08, which is the fewest points ever accumulated in a Premier League season. 

Interim manager Simon Rusk was delighted Southampton earned a draw in injury time after a battling performance on the road.

He told the club's media channels: "I'm always a little bit apprehensive about having a strong feeling on the game after it without watching it back and feeling it out. But my feeling is at the minute it was the very least we deserved."

Ugochukwu grabbed his first goal in English football with a fabulous volley, and Rusk praised the performance of the young French midfielder.

He said: "He's been really, really good. Second half of the season, he's found a bit of momentum and rhythm.

"I think sometimes we're in danger of forgetting how young some of our players are and the Premier League minutes that they're getting under their belt."