Martin: I'm so proud of them
Southampton manager Russell Martin felt only pride following his side's narrow Premier League defeat at the champions Manchester City.
An already tricky task got even tougher after just five minutes with Erling Haaland scoring from close range for the hosts.
But the travelling Saints fans saw their side respond well to the early set back, defending admirably whilst also creating chances that threatened City.
Although ultimately coming out of the game with no points, Martin was pleased with the performance, reflecting post match: "I thought the performance in a lot of ways was really, really [good]. I was really proud of the players.
"It's tough challenge anyway, coming to the best team in the country away from home on the run of the form we've been on. To then go one nill down, early on, really disappointing.
"But then the way they responded, the players, I'm so proud of them. I think, like I said to them last week, if we're going to lose, which we will because it’s football. When we lose, do it in a way that we feel proud of the performance. At least we know we’ve tried to be us.
"I think today we played some amazing football, defending with so much fight and spirit. The lads are trying so hard. We've been so competitive and, subjectively, we feel we should have more points and also objectively, everything suggests that.
"The fans were amazing. I hope they felt proud of the performance that team put in. Frustrated, of course, that we didn’t get anything because we had some big moments ourselves. We had a chance that was every bit as good as some of theirs.
"I can accept the level of performance today and the level of courage to be the team we want to be and if we carry that on we’re going to be more than fine."
