The Saints suffered a promotion hammer blow when losing 2-1 to Cardiff City on Saturday, thanks to an injury-time winner.
Southampton boss Russell Martin admitted Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Cardiff City was ‘unacceptable’ and encouraged his players to respond hard in Tuesday night’s Championship clash with league leaders Leicester City.
Joe Aribo’s first-half goal was cancelled out by Famara Diedhiou in the second half, before teenager Cian Ashford scored his first league goal in the 96th minute of his first full game, giving Cardiff a shock victory. Southampton are currently five points behind second-placed Ipswich Town, and they still have away games against Leicester and third-placed Leeds United before returning home to face Stoke City.
While Martin praised his team’s ‘great football,’ he was upset they didn’t convert their supremacy into goals, giving Cardiff the opportunity for a smash-and-grab victory. And he expects a big response when they travel to the King Power Stadium to face Enzo Maresca’s Foxes in midweek.
“It’s unacceptable to lose a game like that,” Martin remarked. “With the number of opportunities we had, we should have been out of sight by halftime.” We started the second half brightly and had a few more opportunities. We played some incredible football, but it didn’t matter since we lost.
“If you don’t have the conviction and ruthlessness to be clinical in their box, you won’t be able to defend yours well. Today has done us a lot of harm in terms of chasing the automatic spot, but we must respond appropriately immediately. We have three games left and can yet score more than 90 points.
“I expect a strong reaction from everyone on Tuesday night. If that means that our season will be extended, we must prepare accordingly. We spent some time in the top three, but we have long been considered outsiders for automatic promotion.”
Leicester could secure promotion back to the Premier League by beating Southampton, but only if Leeds United lose to Middlesbrough at the Riverside tonight.
