Southampton have suffered three defeats from their last four games and are starting to lose ground on their promotion rivals.
The South Coast club fell to a 2-1 loss to Championship strugglers Millwall at St Mary’s on the weekend, leaving them five points adrift of second-placed Leeds United.
Russel Martin blasted the referee post-match but insisted that his side didn’t do enough to get back into the game.
They also lost Ryan Fraser, who was substituted after 19 minutes through injury. The Scotland international was seen leaving the stadium on crutches, with there being a thought that he has no chance to feature against Liverpool in the FA Cup this week.
What is the latest on Ryan Fraser’s injury?
Fraser has has enjoyed a productive season with The Saints on loan from Premier League outfit Newcastle United.
The 30-year-old, though, is now set for a period on the sidelines after sustaining a ‘whack’ to his knee on the weekend.
“It is a sore one. We will have to assess things. He took a whack on his knee,” Martin said post-match.
“Wee Man comes off and we lost a lot. We lost a lot of running and threat of assists and goals. The other guys need to contribute. We did not have Arma on the pitch because he was really tired. He was immense in the last couple of weeks.”
With Fraser set to miss a period of action, Martin must find a solution out wide.
Samuel Edozie now has golden opportunity at Southampton
Samuel Edozie replaced the injured Fraser in the defeat to Millwall and largely impressed. The 21-year-old made six successful dribbles, evincing his natural desire to be direct and aggressive.
With his left-wing competitor out of action for the foreseeable future, Edozie now has a golden opportunity to step up and become a talisman for the promotion hopefuls.
The England under-20 international had a slow start to his career on the South Coast after making the switch from Manchester City in 2022, but this season, he’s come into his own.
Six goals and three assists so far this term and his underlying data is encouraging. Edozie is in the top 1% of players in his position for progressive carries, touches and progressive passes received, as per FBref.
He’s getting in all the right areas and stats suggest he’s one of the best dribbles in the Championship, so there’s no reason why he can’t keep Fraser out of the side heading into the business end of the season.
Martin has been full of praise for his young winger throughout the season.
Speaking after his side’s 5-0 demolition job of Swansea City back in December, The Saints boss said: “Sam was outstanding. He was brave, direct and aggressive. He had end product. He scored by pressing the goalkeeper.
“He doesn’t make that mistake unless Sam is there sprinting after him. He has been amazing.”
Southampton make the trip to Anfield in midweek to face recently-crowned League Cup winners Liverpool in the FA Cup before a league clash against Birmingham City on Saturday.