Southampton have endured a tricky few weeks in the Championship but have now secured successive wins to keep automatic promotion alive.
After a run of three defeats in four, The South Coasters have bounced back with wins over Birmingham City and Sunderland.
Russell Martin‘s side, having gone two nill up, had to rely on super substitute Joe Rothwell to secure a thrilling 4-2 victory against the Black Cats.
The Bournemouth loanee netted a brace off the bench to move Southampton five points adrift of third-placed Ipswich Town and six from second-placed Leeds United. The Saints have a game in hand on the aforementioned pair.
Following the win at the weekend, Martin admitted that three of the subbed players in the second half were furious at his decision.
Stuart Armstrong ‘furious’ at Russell Martin
Despite the three points, Martin admitted that Stuart Armstrong, along with Will Smallbone and Jack Stephens, were furious at his decision to sub them off the 71st minute.
“Will (Smallbone) and Stu (Armstrong) are both furious they are coming off – which is how it should be. The same goes for Jack (Stephens), but when we win they all celebrate together which is the most important bit,” Martin told the Daily Echo.
“It was decided at 2-1 that we would bring him (Joe Rothwell) on for Stuey to give us some aggression in midfield and for him to drive forward into the space.
“When they scored the second we thought ‘Should we take Stu off? He is one of our more creative players.’ But you have to go with instinct.
“We did that and fortunately it has paid off for us. My feeling was that the game would still be there for us if the players continued to stay brave.
Russell Martin’s subs paid off
Martin has come in for some criticism this season, but credit where credit is due, his substitutions on the weekend were absolutely spot on.
The 38-year-old’s decision to bring off one of his talismanic midfielders was a big call, but ultimately, the correct one.
Rothwell has now scored two braces as a substitute since arriving at St Mary’s in January and has staked a big claim to start against Middlesbrough at the end of this month.
Southampton don’t play before the international break so will have 18 days before their clash against Boro.
The South Coasters will be hopeful of having Kyle Walker-Peters and Ryan Fraser back in time for then.