Southampton have endured a tricky patch over the last few weeks but they returned to winning ways on Tuesday, as they defeated play-off hopefuls Coventry City 2-1 at St Mary’s.
Russell Martin‘s side went two goals up in the first half and the visitors couldn’t recover despite pulling one back.
It was a much-needed win after their disappointing goalless draw at Blackburn Rovers last weekend, which all but ended their hopes of a top-two finish.
With play-offs now likely, Saints need to gather momentum and it seems Martin may have found his winning formula.
Russell Martin may have found his winning formula in James Bree
James Bree has featured a lot more predominately of late having not featured much earlier in the campaign.
Speaking back in October, Martin said: “He (Bree) is so resilient. You can see that from his career. He had a move early on which didn’t go to plan. Then he went out on loan and found a place that really suited him in Luton.
“He bounced back and earned himself a move here and has had another really difficult period. He is a better player than he actually believes. It’s up to us to bring that out of him.”
Martin seems to be doing exactly that and has maximised his potential in recent weeks, which is helping Southampton defensively.
Against Coventry, the 26-year-old picked up a 7.6 match rating, as per Sofascore, with only two players bettering that score. Here are his impressive statistics from the game.
- 85 touches
- 95% accurate passes
- 1 key pass
- 4 tackles
- 4 clearances
- 5/8 duels won
It seems with Bree now in the side, Martin may have found his winning formula as it allows Kyle Walker-Peters to be unleashed either on the left or even in midfield.
Southampton still have a chance of automatic promotion
Saints, prior to the mid-week Championship fixtures, were all but resigned to a play-off campaign, however, they may still have a glimmer of hope.
With Leeds United and Ipswich Town both drawing and Leicester City suffering defeat, they’ve been let back in, a little.
Admittedly a top-two finish is still very unlikely but if they were to win their two games in hand on Leeds and Ipswich, they could find themselves four points off the automatic promotion spots.
They are still yet to play both Leicester and Leeds, so there is an opportunity to take points off their rivals, too.