Martin on Arma, clean sheet and unbeaten run
Russell Martin was glowing in his praise of Adam Armstrong after another match-winning turn from the striker, in Southampton's 2-0 victory over Cardiff City.
Armstrong scored twice in quick succession within the first 15 minutes of the match at St Mary's to give Saints a lead that they never really looked in danger of relinquishing, as they extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches.
The goals took Armstrong's tally for the season to 12, second in the Championship scoring charts behind only Blackburn's Sammie Szmodics.
"I'm just going to tell you what an amazing guy he is and what an amazing player he is and how hard he works for the team," said Martin when asked about the forward's latest contribution.
"I think the supporters love him and we do. Not just his goals, but his relentless running and energy. He always seems to come up with the ball when it's a duel and it's like a 50-50, the tracking back, the running back – amazing, amazing, so he deserves every moment he gets at the moment, the man of the match and the goals.
"I'm just disappointed for him he didn't get the hat-trick, as I think he'll be annoyed. Also he's playing in different positions for us all the time, so it's not easy, but he's been incredible and I love working with him."
Martin was also delighted for his players to secure back-to-back clean sheets, following the 1-0 triumph against Bristol City in midweek.
"Big for us, big for Gavin, big for the team," he said. "They deserve it, with the amount of work they put in. It's been a really consistent base with those four really – Gavin, Jan, Taylor and Flynn are that fulcrum of the team that's the real foundation and then Kyle and Ryan today were outstanding.
"James Bree has been outstanding when he's been in as well, and it was a really tough decision to leave Breezy out. I just felt with the shape we played today it would help with Ryan Manning being on his left side and I thought he's probably had his best game for us today, so they are driving each other on.
"There's big competition. But the consistency and the courage they all take it makes it easier for them and they were really brilliant."
Speaking about the 11 match unbeaten run, in which Saints have taken 27 of a possible 33 points, Martin added: "I said to the players before, I wasn't aware of it, but someone said we had the longest unbeaten run in the country in all divisions and I said to them they should be really proud of that, but they should also want to extend that and keep being that team for as long as they can, because it's not easy.
"This league is not easy, to get on a run like that is not easy. We're probably a bit annoyed we haven't got more points in that run, which I know sounds mad, but we probably are, so I'm really proud of them, but we have to keep going."
