With a midweek win over Watford and the sides above them stumbling, Southampton have some renewed hope of automatic promotion.
With just six games of the Championship remaining, Russell Martin‘s side are fourth in the table, behind Ipswich Town, Leeds United and Leicester City.
Having gone three games without a win after the March international break – including a 3-2 loss away at Ipswich – even the most optimistic of Southampton fans had accepted their only hope of promotion was via the play-offs.
However, with the Saints impressing in a 2-1 win over play-off chasing Coventry City whilst their promotion rivals faltered, they maintain an outside chance. The St Mary’s side are ten points off the top two, but face both sides in their remaining fixtures and boast games in hand on all those above them.
Whilst it would take a minor miracle for Southampton to catch the top two, a win against Watford this weekend could see them build some steam ready to apply some pressure between now and the end of the season.
Russell Martin will have to utilise Southampton squad in next six games
Whether the season ends with automatic promotion or a shot at the play-offs, Martin will have to lean on the depth of his squad to navigate what remains of the season.
Having been left out of the starting line-up for the stalemate away at Blackburn Rovers last weekend, Che Adams came back into the side to score a brace against Coventry on Tuesday night.
The Saints front three in that win consisted of Adam Armstrong, David Brooks and Adams. The fact that Samuel Edozie, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Ryan Fraser and Sekou Mara could all play in the front three but were watching on from the bench highlighting Southampton’s attacking options.
With Juan Larios and Ross Stewart the only senior players unavailable, Southampton’s depth will be the envy of most of the Championship. With Southampton having three weeks to play their final six fixtures, every player is likely to have a role to play at one point or another but some may have to watch on more than they would like.
Martin speaks on Southampton selection headache
Eyebrows were raised when Ryan Manning was omitted from the Southampton squad on Tuesday night.
Martin brought the left-back with him on a free transfer from Swansea City in the summer and he was a regular in the first half of the season but has found himself out of favour recently, having not featured since the 4-2 win over Sunderland at the start of March.
Instead, it was Kyle Walker-Peters who started in Manning’s position, with James Bree coming in at right-back and Taylor Harwood-Bellis partnering Jack Stephens at the centre of the back four.
With almost everyone available there simply aren’t enough spaces in the match-day squad to include every senior player, meaning there will be some disappointed players in the coming weeks.
This is a situation Martin must manage and he was asked about the potential issue in his press-conference ahead of the Watford clash this weekend.
When asked whether he had ‘some selection headaches – in a good way – back again?’, Martin responded: “Yeah. I think every one of the players on the bench and Ryan Manning not on the bench on Tuesday, all of them feel they could play and they should be playing.
“So it’s a brilliant problem but it’s not easy as well to give the lads something really brilliant when they’re playing and then to be the guys to take that away from them.”
Whilst it is undoubtedly a luxury many managers at the Championship level aren’t often afforded, Martin will have to have some uncomfortable conversations across the next month.
Ultimately, though, the only thing that matters over the coming weeks is securing promotion and Martin must select the squad he feels is best equipped to win each game in that time regardless of who he has to leave out.