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Southampton striker Danny Ings has been speaking to The Daily Echo about his fellow forward Che Adams, and the 23-year-old's difficult start to life at St Mary's.

Adams arrived on the south coast after Southampton agreed a £15m deal with Birmingham for his services, after a stunning 2018/19 campaign in which he scored 22 Championship goals.

However, since arriving at Southampton, Adams is yet to find the back of the net in nine Premier League appearances - he also hasn't found the back of the net in two Carabao Cup outings either.

However, Ings has hinted at one positive thing that Adams has supplied.

What did he say?

Ings said:  “If any club didn’t have any competition with the strikers, it wouldn’t be healthy – you would be more worried. Any player that comes to a club wants to play. Che is very hungry to play. You can see it. He is strong, powerful and quick.

“We are different types of strikers that can also play a factor and I saw myself on the bench for a few games at the start of the season which was frustrating.

"You want to put the shirt on, do well and score goals but you have to respect the manager’s decision."

Despite not scoring, Adams has helped

Before Adams' arrival, who did Ings have to give him a kick up the backside and motivate him?

Well, there was Manolo Gabbiadini, who scored just one Premier League goal last season before being shipped off to Sampdoria in January.

There was also Charlie Austin, who scored two league goals but ended up being frozen out by Ralph Hasenhuttl and was eventually sold the West Brom for £4m back in the summer.

Perhaps not solely because of the aforementioned pair's poor form - although it could be a factor - Ings netted just seven league goals in 24 appearances.

To put that into context, the former Liverpool man already has five goals in 12 league appearances - on that note, it could definitely be argued that Adams has motivated Ings, something that the England international somewhat alludes to when he says that it was "frustrating" to be on the bench whilst Adams was starting.