Martin's pride in players and fans
Russell Martin paid tribute to the supporters following the welcome they received at St Mary's, ahead of beating West Brom to reach the Championship play-off final.
With the tie finely balanced at 0-0 at the halfway stage, Saints' team coach was greeted at the ground by a sea of supporters, roaring their team on ahead of the second leg and sending red plumes of smoke into the air.
The reception certainly seemed to do the trick, as Martin's side produced a magnificent performance, powering to a 3-1 victory that now sets up a showdown with Leeds United at Wembley Stadium next Sunday, with the winner making an instant return to the Premier League.
"I'm so proud of the club really, the players, the supporters," he said. "I'm grateful to all of them. A brilliant night, and it started with the welcome we had from our fans. There were some real emotional people on the bus coming into that.
"We knew something was going to be there, because the club have really promoted it and Phil [Parsons] and the gang upstairs have really wanted to push that, but for the amount of people that turned out, and they did, and to create what they did, that set the tone, they were amazing.
"So thank you to everyone who came tonight, and especially those people at the start. The atmosphere was incredible. From then on in the players had to take that energy onto the pitch, and they were amazing.
"I think we got better as the game went on. I think we deserved to win. We played some brilliant football, real aggression. I'm annoyed we conceded still, but that's the life of a manager. But, yeah, there were some big performances, and honestly I'm grateful to them and everyone, the staff, the players. We had a beautiful moment tonight, and now we have a chance to go and get a bigger and better one and we have to make sure we do that."
Speaking about the intensity and bravery his side played with, Martin added: "Amazing. It's not easy. So to do the stuff they do, and under big pressure, I think it was incredible.
"And that's always the challenge to be the team you want to be. And now, we have the biggest challenge to be the team we want to be, to be the players they want to be, to do it on the biggest stage, under the biggest pressure, and if they can do what they did tonight, then we have a real chance."
