After Stoke City’s triumph, Southampton’s Martin announces a ‘aggressive’ verdict.
SAINTS manager Russell Martin hailed his squad’s first clean sheet of the season as a “real team effort” after they defeated Stoke City 1-0.
Saints won their second Championship game in a row at Bet365 Stadium thanks to Stuart Armstrong’s first-half free kick.
It puts an end to the four-game losing streak that precedes the turnaround and offers supporters newfound trust in new manager Martin.
Saints had a chance to win the game in Stoke, but they also relied on luck at the back as Alex Neil’s charges failed to capitalize on pressure.
“I thought we were great, really good to follow up on the effort we put in on Saturday against another really good team,” Martin said after the game to the Daily Echo.
“I’m very proud of the boys and grateful to them.” We did so well in the first half, but it started falling apart in the latter third.
“We were excellent during transition. Flynn was beastly today, and he’s been that way for the last two games. He’s been fantastic.
“Everyone was fighting for each other and being aggressive, but we also took the fight out of the game when we needed to with incredible moments of calm.”
“We spoke about that before the game and you have to be brave to do that amongst the chaos and they were.”
“We should have (killed the game), we had some incredible chances,” he added.
Charly (Alcaraz) passing through and Kamaldeen (Sulemana)’s chance, Sekou (Mara)’s chance later on. We didn’t capitalize on some wonderful opportunities.
“I believe that once the team has had some more positive results and is flowing a bit more, we will end the game.” We kept Stoke to a minimum, which was a nice thing.
“We needed to show both sides of the ball tonight, and we did.” I’m incredibly happy for Gavin (Bazunu) and the rest of the team. It was a true team effort for everyone.
Martin quipped about Armstrong’s amazing free-kick, saying, “You haven’t had the chance to see that yet!” For the past ten years, (James) Ward-Prowse has taken everything. He’s a natural at them.
“It was nice to see it go in and it’s a brilliant goal – it deserves to win the game.”
“Stu has been tremendous in the last two games, really stepping up when we needed him to.” I hope he realizes how much he will appreciate playing with this team.
“He’s another player who has had a tough year and it’s about trying to get him back to the Stuey Armstrong I played with many moons ago.”
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