Southampton ended a run of four straight Championship defeats over the weekend as they beat Leeds United at St Mary’s 3-1 to relieve some pressure on Russell Martin
Stoke City boss Alex Neil says he was impressed by Southampton in their win over Leeds United last weekend but has questioned whether that means they are “back on track” just yet.
Saints ended a run of four straight defeats in the Championship by beating Leeds 3-1 at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon, with Adam Armstrong scoring a brace and former Potters loanee Will Smallbone adding another.
The victory puts Russell Martin’s side up to tenth in the table ahead of their trip to the bet365 Stadium to face Stoke on Tuesday night, who themselves registered a first win in six on the weekend against Bristol City.
Asked in his pre-match press conference whether he was wary of Southampton now being back on track after their victory over Leeds, Neil said: “It’s a tough game but when you say back on track, they have won one out of five so it’s perception, isn’t it? By them winning that game, they’re back on track now, they’re good to go.
“I think when you say that they’re good to go because they beat Leeds and they beat Leeds convincingly to be fair. I watched the game and I thought they were very, very good.”
Neil was also complimentary of Martin, who was named Southampton’s fourth permanent manager in the last 12 months when he took the job at the start of the summer.
The former MK Dons and Swansea City boss had it all to do when he came through the door on the south coast, dealing with a bloated squad full of players seeking exits following relegation.
“Russell is a young coach in his third job but he’s been thrust into an environment now that he wouldn’t have experienced before,” added Neil, who managed Martin for a brief period at Norwich City.
“When you take a team over that’s come down, it’s difficult because a lot of players want to leave, there’s a lot of coming and going and the place isn’t settled, it’s suffered a relegation, which like most clubs will know is damaging in so many different levels. He’s got to pick those pieces up.
“But I thought in the last performance that you could see they played really, really well and I thought they dug in – and they needed to dig in in the second half. Russell will be really pleased with that. He knows the game Russell, he’s clever and he’ll be really determined to try to continue that run, as we will be.”