Southampton have it all to do if they are to achieve automatic promotion after defeat against Cardiff City.
The south coast side failed to build on the early lead given to them by Joe Aribo and conceded two second-half goals to lose 2-1.
The second of these goals came in the 96th-minute with Southampton chasing the game. Jan Bednarek was unfortunate to deflect the ball past Alex McCarthy in goal, especially as he was one of the Saints’ better performers.
McCarthy was deputising for the injured Gavin Bazunu who faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
To add to that, Flynn Downes missed Saturday’s game with a knock and Ryan Manning was replaced at half-time for the same reason.
Manager Russell Martin will also have to make do without Stuart Armstrong, the 32-year-old leaving the pitch on a stretcher late on.
Whilst poor finishing was ultimately to blame for the defeat in Cardiff, Martin must fix an issue that has started to become a worry.
Russell Martin must address Southampton issue
Southampton were so dominant in the first-half against Cardiff that it felt inevitable they would rue their missed opportunities.
According to Sofascore, the Saints had 62% possession, 21 shots and missed five big chances. If you cannot take your chances when you are so in control, it invariably comes back to bite you.
Whilst Martin cannot score the goals for his players, he is not blameless in the defeat. A pattern is emerging that is of growing concern, particularly with the play-offs on the horizon.
That is, Southampton’s substitutes are all too often struggling to make an impact.
This was not a regular problem earlier in the season, with the likes of Ryan Fraser, Samuel Edozie and Sekou Mara all regularly aiding their team from the bench. Recently, though, this has increasingly become an issue.
Some of this is arguably down to the fact that Che Adams is starting more regularly than he has done across the season.
With Adams starting and Adam Armstrong playing wide, there are less options for Martin to bring on to make a meaningful impact if one or both are having an off day. The fact Mara has been suspended for the last two games due to an off the ball incident against Watford compounding this issue.
David Brooks has been the other starter in the front three recently and, whilst he has shown glimpses, he is struggling to have the impact Southampton would have hoped for. With Edozie, Fraser and Kamaldeen Sulemana all out of form this makes things difficult for Martin to make positive changes.
With that being said, the timing and nature of Martin’s substitutions cannot go without scrutiny and he got it wrong against Cardiff on Saturday.
Southampton subs failed to make impact against Cardiff
The first change Martin made was an enforced one, with Manning replaced by James Bree at half-time.
This was the obvious change to make and Martin did the right thing to bring Bree on. However, the fact he was given a match rating of six out of ten by the Daily Echo and labelled “the best out of the poor substitutes” tells you all you need to know.
Martin utilised all five of his available substitutions, but there was a familiar theme as each individual failed to make an impact.
Joe Rothwell has scored two braces from the bench since arriving from Bournemouth in January – one of which winning the EFL Championship Goal of the Month award for February – but the midfielder has done little else to suggest Southampton should look to make his loan deal permanent.
The 29-year-old came on for Aribo shortly after Famara Diedhiou’s leveller on 68 minutes and made just ten passes as well as registering just 19 touches according to Sofascore.
What made this worse was that Aribo was one of Southampton’s better players on the day and the Nigerian is in his best run of form of the campaign.
In the 80th-minute, Martin made a triple change to try and salvage the game but, as well as being too late, it also left his side with little balance as they chased a winner.
Sulemana, Edozie and Fraser came on for Adam Armstrong, Will Smallbone and Brooks but, with all three being wingers, Fraser took up one of the three central midfield spots.
It did not work and the Saints ultimately lost the game in their desperate bid to win in.
The most damning indictment of the substitutes came in Edozie’s rating of five out of ten, with the Daily Echo commenting: “The second in a triple change made to turn the game around. Only registered six touches. Lost all of his duels”.
Martin must learn from his mistakes quickly and look to rectify this ahead of a likely extension to Southampton’s season through the play-offs.
With the stakes so high in these post-season games, the Saints boss cannot afford to get it wrong.