Martin: Late goals not a coincidence

The Scottish substitute repeated his heroics at Hull from a fortnight ago with another knockout punch, this time at Millwall, to crown an impressive Saints display deserving of three points.

Ché Adams also has an added-time winner to his name this season, at Plymouth, while Saints have salvaged draws against Norwich and Preston after the 90-minute mark.

“I thought we were great,” Martin reflected. “First half a lot of control but a bit slow with the ball, the final third didn’t come to enough, we kept turning the ball over, but we limited them to very few problems.

“The set-piece was a problem because they’re so big, they have such stature, such size and they’re very good at it.

“They make the game hard for you. They brought real aggression, real energy in the first 20 minutes. I thought we rode that out quite well and then got control of the game without threatening or creating too much.

“I thought in the second half everything we asked them to do at half time, the energy they played with, the aggression, the ball speed, the amount we created, it was so dominant.

“It takes a lot of work, but they have a real togetherness, which is growing all the time, a real pride in what they’re doing, and it’s not a coincidence, the late goals.

“The amount of work we put into Millwall, the amount of energy we took out of them with the ball and without it, and then we create chances towards the end and thankfully one goes in.”

The trip to The Den also saw Saints secure a second clean sheet of the season, much to the manager’s satisfaction.

“We’ve limited teams over the last however many weeks to very, very little – one shot on target again today away here is no mean feat, so I’m really proud of them,” Martin added.

“It’s a big clean sheet, they deserve that, the supporters deserve that – it was a brilliant energy, brilliant atmosphere and the players thrived off it, they loved it and enjoyed it. It’s a good win, but a really brilliant, I think, away performance.”