A hammer blow for toothless Saints

HONEST Russell Martin has acknowledged automatic promotion is now likely beyond Southampton after his side’s lacklustre display at Blackburn saw them stumble to a scoreless draw.

- Simon Peach

Having fought for a top-two finish in the Championship for much of the season, Saints’ profligacy in front of goal proved costly in the last-gasp Good Friday draw with Middlesbrough and even later loss to Ipswich on Easter Monday.

Those frustrating results were compounded by a lack of attacking spark at Ewood Park, where fourth-placed Southampton created little against well-drilled Blackburn in a forgettable draw.

“I was positive about the way we defended, about the clean sheet,” Saints manager Martin said.

“We’ve looked so dangerous and creative going forward recently but conceded too many goals, so we did a lot of work on that side of game.