Southampton faltered on the weekend in their hopes of closing the gap to the top two.
Russell Martin‘s side led for the majority of the clash against Middlesbrough on Friday afternoon but they were dealt a hammer blow in the 90th minute, as Emmanuel Latte Lathe levelled for the visitors.
Che Adams missed a few big chances and had a total-off day, though, Martin was quick to take the blame away from his striker, speaking post-match.
“He will be frustrated he didn’t score but it happens, we are human beings. He was not the reason we don’t win, we should still defend properly,” the Saints boss said.
Following the disappointing draw, Southampton remain nine points adrift of second place with two games in hand, so their automatic promotion hopes are still in the balance.
EFL pundit Sam Parkin echoed that notion and outlined what they must do to secure a top-two finish.
Sam Parkin remains hopeful of Southampton’s automatic promotion hopes
After being held to a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s, many felt Saints’ automatic promotion hopes were all but over, but Parkin doesn’t believe that to be the case.
“Leicester dropped points and Leeds dropped points and Southampton didn’t win but nothing has changed for Southampton other than there’s one less game to play,” the former Swindon Town forward said.
“They’re still nine points off the top two, that was the same before this round of games. They’ve still got away trips to Leeds on the last day and Leicester and Ipswich on Monday.
“So as much as Saints fans will be disappointed and yes it could’ve gone better, nothing’s changed, the gaps the same and the mission is the same.
“Southampton need to have a hell of a run through until the end of the season and they probably need to beat two of the three teams in the top three they’ve got away games against.”
Southampton can still finish in the top two
As Parkin quite rightly said, Southampton’s position hasn’t changed, at all. They’ve made a point on Leicester and matched Leeds’ result, so heading into the final nine games of the gruelling campaign, they’ve everything to play for.
With Ipswich on Monday, and Leicester and Leeds still to play, they could claw themselves right back into the mix.
Martin, speaking prior to the Boro game, felt like many had written them off, though he seemed to enjoy that notion.
“We have to take care of ourselves. The beautiful thing for us is that we have been written off by everyone,” the 38-year-old said on Thursday.
Southampton will remain the underdogs in this incredible automatic promotion race but that’s certainly not a bad thing, by any means.
Focus will be on the leading trio at the summit, so Saints can go about their business unassumingly.
Whilst Friday’s result was certainly far from ideal, the mission is still the same, though, they can’t afford to suffer defeat at Portman Road on Monday.