Draw hard to accept for Martin
Just two minutes away from a first Premier League win of the season, manager Russell Martin was left to rue a missed opportunity as Saints were forced to settle for a draw against Ipswich.
The hosts had the lead after just five minutes when Tyler Dibling scored his first senior goal to cap an impressive start to the campaign, a strike that was good enough for a half-time lead.
A string of opportunities went awry after the restart before deep into stoppage time, Tractor Boys captain Sam Morsy levelled with a deflected strike from the edge of the box.
Reflecting on a deflating end, Martin said: “It's hard to take, it's really hard to accept that we haven't won the game. I'm really angry that we don't stick to the detail of what we've worked on, especially defending set plays late on in the game because anxiety took over or whatever, but it's not how it should look when they score.
“Even that, we have a chance to take control of the game, we give the ball away and then we defend for two-and-a-half minutes after that. We make a silly foul which happens, but they have two shots on target in the second half and they come in that phase and they hurt us. And other than that they really didn’t have very much in second half, I thought we were great.
“But if we are going to make that decision to go and attack and not have as much control as we would probably prefer, in the final third then you need to score. And you need to get a second goal and we should have. But we didn't and then if you're not going to score, you need to defend with everything you have in that last minute and we don’t.
“So I'm so angry and hurt about that. For everyone, the fans were amazing for the players. It's not about blame. It's all of us. It's really difficult to accept right now but there was so much good stuff. Some brilliant individual performances, some great moments, lots of them, but the overriding feeling right now is a bit frustrating.
"But we are so close. We’re getting better and better every game. The fans were amazing today, the old energy in the atmosphere. Even at the end, they stay behind. It's a difficult moment to concede so late, but the players are giving everything. They are giving everything. There's some brilliant moments, but we have to make it really, really count. I really believe we will."
