Southampton continued their return toward the top of the table last night with a solid 1-0 win against Stoke City.
The win sees Southampton move up to ninth in the table and on 16 points which is level with Sunderland in fourth.
It was Southampton’s second win on the bounce, following a streak of four consecutive losses in the Championship.
It appears that finally Russell Martin‘s style of play has been taken to by the players and results are now following as a result.
One player who has been impressive in the improvements that the Saints have undergone recently has been young midfielder, Flynn Downes.
Downes played 90 minutes against Stoke and was among the standout performers for the away side, here are his stats.
Downes impressive v Stoke
Using Sofa Score, it is easy to see that Downes had a great game against Stoke. Playing the entire game, in which he made 76 touches and most of these touches were top class.
51 passes completed out of 55 attempts which is a staggering 93% accuracy as he helped the Saints to 58% possession. Of these passes, he also had a key pass and created one big chance for his teammates.
Downes was also solid outside of his passing, winning seven duels out of 20 attempted, most of his loses were aerial.
In defence he also played a big part in helping a clean sheet be kept, four clearances, four interceptions and two tackles. A top class performance and the type of display that’ll have Martin delighted over his potential new midfield general who arrived from West Ham in the summer.