Martin: I have to put it into context
On a night of chaos in Cardiff, manager Russell Martin took a philosophical approach, having witnessed his side come through a tough second round Carabao Cup tie 5-3 victors.
After just ten minutes Saints had taken the lead, Mateus Fernandes marking his first start for the club with a neat finish from just outside the box.
Cardiff started what would become a trend for the evening with an equaliser through Rubin Colwill, before Sam Amo-Ameyaw grabbed his first senior goal just before the break.
The carnage ensued after the interval, Cardiff once again equalising before Cameron Archer got his first. And despite the hosts levelling for a third time, James Bree made sure of the win with a peach of a volley from the edge of the box late on. Archer adding a second for the icing on the cake.
"I'm very pleased with the win," reflected a conflicted Martin. "I'm very pleased with the quality of goals with scored. I'm really pleased with a few of the performances; Cam Archer, James Bree, Adam Lallana when he came on the pitch was standing, helped the team so much. And then I have to put into context because I'm really annoyed about a lot of the stuff, about the three goals we conceed.
"So we have a lot of guys playing their first competitive game for us. It's a tough opposition. The second half they threw absolutely everything at it because they're nothing to lose, cup game."
"We had a brilliant away following. They're amazing. The amount of travelled on a Wednesday night for a cup game. They knew there'd be a lot of changes in the team. That's why I said it in the press to make sure people knew what to expect."
"So there was frustrated bits of course. It's the first time a lot of them guys have been on the pitch competitively together. So there were moments they lacked a bit of fluidity. But when it did click and when they got it right, there were some beautiful moments. Some brilliant moments."
