Southampton assistant boss Erwin Koeman has lauded the return of forward Jay Rodriguez after 16 months on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.

The 26-year-old England international made his first Premier League appearance since April 2014 in Sunday's 2-2 draw against Newcastle.

"I think for him it was a big victory to start because he had trained for six weeks already with us and he made some minutes so he was ready for it," he said.

"But after that long period of being out for maybe 15 or 16 months, I have to say he played very well."