Russell Martin, the manager of Southampton, was unable to hide his frustration that his team, which is vying for promotion, had let two points slip away in their 1-1 draw with Watford on Saturday. Watford brought on Vakoun Bayo and Rhys Healey with the Saints leading 1-0 through a goal from Che Adams, and the two worked together to keep the Hornets’ recent winning ways alive.
After wins by Leeds, Leicester, and Ipswich, Southampton is now 10 points outside of the automatic promotion spots. Martin also acknowledged that the outcome was frustrating.
“I didn’t speak very long with the lads afterwards because I felt so disappointed when we came off the pitch,” he stated. In the end, it’s a point against a team that is playing really well, and the second half of the game was excellent. It had a lot more energy. We still held a great deal of power and kept them to one excellent moment.
The first part went alright. We tried to help ourselves at half-time by changing the shape a little bit because we had a lot of control but made too many mistakes in the last third.
“However, they needed to come up with more given how many times we had four versus three or three versus two in the second half. The game is over if we don’t score the second goal.
“In games, sometimes you feel like you’re hanging on, but today I thought we were going to score the second goal. We failed to do so, and as a result, we gave up a ridiculously poor goal.
“They force it forward. We ought to lead it. Instead, we attempt to get under it, and after some athletic headwork from Bayo, Rhys hits one of the worst volleys I have ever seen him hit in our time together.
“With the way the teams above us are playing, I really wanted to get nine points out of the three games this week. We can’t have too many mistakes, but I also watched some things that I’m happy with and proud of. I will be content if we win the next two games, without a doubt. There is a good point being made here, but the manner it takes place is really disappointing.”
In the meantime, Leeds must travel to managerless Sunderland at the Stadium of Light prior to hosting Coventry, while Southamoton will travel to Coventry City on Wednesday night before hosting Blackburn Rovers the following weekend.
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