Southampton kept a clean sheet as they played out a 0-0 draw with West Brom on Sunday.
Whilst Russell Martin would have loved to be taking a lead back to St Mary’s for the second-leg on Friday night, he will be relatively happy with a draw in the away leg.
Southampton will now be favourites, but it is by no means a foregone conclusion that they will be involved in the Wembley final on 26th May.
Martin and his players now have a handful of days to prepare to face the same opponents and should take confidence from the fact they stopped West Brom scoring in the knowledge they themselves can be more expansive at home.
There was one major surprise when the line-ups were announced an hour before kick-off, with Che Adams missing out through injury and Sekou Mara the player tasked with replacing him.
Southampton fans all saying the same thing about Sekou Mara performance
Mara was disappointing as he once again failed to take his chance.
The Frenchman is still only 21, but fans are beginning to grow tired of his failure to impress despite multiple opportunities this campaign and this was evident on social media following the draw at West Brom.
One fan posted on ‘X’: “I’ve got to say, Mara doesn’t deserve another chance in this team. He is the laziest and more ineffectual player in the squad.”
Another simply wrote: “Never want to see Mara again.”
Another added: “Mara can’t play on Friday that’s what we’ve learnt.”
One fan is willing to throw Ross Stewart into action if Adams does not recover for Friday’s return leg, posting: “If no Che, I think we risk starting Stewart. Mara doesn’t offer enough for me. Stewart looks an exciting player when fit.”
Finally, one supporter was left ruing what might have been had Adams been fit to play, saying: “Do think we could’ve grabbed a goal had Che been fit today. Mara incapable of holding the ball up and it really showed just how much Che adds.”
Mara’s statistics in poor West Brom performance
Fans were clearly left unimpressed by Mara’s showing at The Hawthorns and the statistics show that this is with good reason.
According to Sofascore, Mara made just six passes in his 71 minutes against West Brom and was dispossessed six times.
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The 21-year-old also failed to have a shot on target, and failed to complete either of the two dribbles he attempted in the game.
He also won just 40% of his duels which is not what Southampton wanted from the player tasked with filling the boots of Adams who always makes sure opposing defenders always know they are in for a real battle.
With Mara struggling to make an impact, Southampton fans will have everything crossed that Adams is fit to start on Friday night.