Martin hails second-half improvement

Saints were frustrated by their Sky Bet Championship opponents in the first period at St Mary’s, but two goals in six second-half minutes from Sékou Mara, followed by a set-piece strike from Ché Adams, extended the club record unbeaten run to 24 matches in all competitions.

The manager admitted he was not impressed with his side before the interval, having made seven changes to his starting line-up, but some stern words at the break prompted a positive response.

“I didn’t enjoy the first half, I don’t think the players enjoyed playing in it as much as they should,” he said. “I think we lacked aggression, with the ball and without it, and that was the message at half time.

“I said to them after, I’m not going to apologise for being so frustrated at half time, it’s only out of love for them and care for them and understanding what they can do.

“We just weren’t quite there. We still had a couple of big chances and we had a lot of control, but the team is built on courage and aggression and being horrible to play against, and we weren’t – we were too nice.

“The second half was the complete opposite. The players were incredible – relentless energy, pressed like beasts, so aggressive with the ball, forward runs, how high Janny [Bednarek] and Jack [Stephens] were, playing penetrating passes. We scored a couple of really quality goals.

“Some really outstanding performances – four young guys on the pitch doing brilliantly, all of them, so a lot to be really happy about in the second half, I thought the players were immense, I really enjoyed that.”

Martin praised the quartet of Academy players who more than played their part in the victory, as well as two-goal hero Mara, whose second was an explosive long-range strike.

“Tyler [Dibling] was fantastic – he was so disappointed after the first game [against Watford in the original tie] with how he performed, because he cares, he’s a deep thinker and he’s a brilliant lad. We told him early on after that game he would play tonight and he’d get another opportunity, and he was fantastic.

“Sam Amo [-Ameyaw] was great when he came on, he feels that he should have scored, and then Jayden [Meghoma], wow, so young, a position where he has to take so much responsibility on the ball. They all have such incredible talent, and Braggy (Cameron Bragg) as well, who works incredibly well. It’s been a good night.

“Sékou [Mara] is so relaxed as a person, but he trains like a beast. Sometimes on the pitch he can look similar, relaxed, but he works really hard, technically really capable and can do stuff some players can’t do. He was outstanding tonight – not just what he done with the ball and the goals, but also stole the ball so many times out of possession.

“The biggest challenge we’re going to have now, if we can keep everyone fit, is picking the right team, keeping everyone hungry and keeping everyone fresh. Games like tonight and now this game at Anfield in a few weeks’ time will give us chances to make sure everyone gets on the pitch at some point.”