It really hurt’ – Martin urges Saints to use revenge as fuel against Ipswich
MANAGER Russell Martin anticipates that the Saints will draw inspiration from their thrilling season-ending loss to Ipswich when they take on the Tractor Boys on Saturday.
Southampton virtually exited the Championship’s automatic promotion race in April after suffering a late 3-2 loss at Portman Road.
Martin acknowledged that Saints used that setback as motivation for their push for promotion, and he hopes the team can rekindle that emotion.
Both teams will be looking for their first victory as Saints have lost their first four games and Ipswich has drawn twice.
Martin stated at Staplewood on Thursday: “I believe this to be a major game. In my opinion, every Premier League game is important.
They’ll present a formidable foe. We discovered that past year. When it comes to the people they have hired, they have truly improved.
They’re really good at what they do and have a really great manager, so playing against them again in the Premier League this season will be exciting.
We seem to be traveling on separate paths, in my opinion. It seems like a really thrilling match.
“That defeat really hurt,” he said. You seem to use anything, in my opinion. Telling stories to the players is a part of our job.
“They are the story’s primary characters. We therefore used that as a lot of fuel last season because the way the loss was handled hurt us a lot.
“This season is a different story, and we have a lot of different players now, but maybe there are a few that we can tap into and help them understand and feel that again.”
“I believe they are aware of the stakes. They are aware of how difficult the season has been so far. And they’re desperate to put it right.
Martin was happy with how similar the team looked after making ten changes for Southampton’s Tuesday night trip to Everton.
The size of his squad and Jack Stephens’ suspension, he acknowledged, has presented him with some selection quandaries before his match against Ipswich.
He clarified, “It gives us a lot of problems, which is great.” So I think we had our best moments off the back of tough moments last season.”
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