Martin hails improving Saints
Russell Martin praised the growing understanding, connection and spirit in his team after Southampton extended their unbeaten run to six games with a 3-1 victory over Birmingham in the Sky Bet Championship.
Saints were outstanding in the first half, as goals from Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Charly Alcaraz put them in command at St Mary’s.
Birmingham responded by halving the deficit through substitute Jay Stansfield, as Saints had to navigate a tricky spell around the hour mark before finishing strongly and scoring the clinching goal through Adam Armstrong’s eighth of the season late on.
“I’m really delighted. We played some brilliant football, should’ve scored a few more goals I think,” Martin reflected.
“I’m really frustrated we conceded a goal because it came out of nowhere, and up until that point they’d had so little in the game, so I’m annoyed about that, but it’s my job to be really demanding with the players.
“I’m really proud of them because it’s been a big week for us and the fans as well, with the travelling everyone’s had to do, and we’re unbeaten in six games and it feels like we’ve built some real momentum.
“Some of the football we played, their understanding and connection with each other and they’re playing together now, really understanding each other’s roles in the team and not just their own, so I really enjoyed watching a lot of it.
“The growth in the spirit and the emotion they’re feeling and their understanding of what we want, their belief and pride in what they’re doing has really grown, I think you can see that with the two late goals we’ve had this week.
“I think pretty much everyone has got on the pitch again this week and everyone’s done a really good job, so I’m really pleased. We now need to keep going.”
