Southampton boss Nathan Jones praised his players after defeat to Newcastle in their Carabao Cup semifina.

Newcastle now hold the advantage in the two-leg semifinal thanks to Joelinton's goal.

Jones said, "I am really proud of the level of performance. These are a top side, big physical and athletic. They have had time to recruit and recruited that way and they are a real tough side to play against.

"I thought we were excellent. They had a couple of big chances and we had a couple of big chances. For us to compete and be like we were it shows we have come a long way and in the second half we went after the game. We really stepped it up.

"We just lacked a little bit of quality in terms of wide areas, once we get that confidence and get one or two in we will be a different threat. I am really proud of them."