By David Williams
Former Swansea City head coach Russell Martin knows he and his Southampton team are under intense pressure after fans turned on them following their latest defeat.
Martin – who quit the Swans 18 months ago and took Saints up into the Premier League – is under the cosh with his team rock bottom and adrift after a 5-1 home defeat to Chelsea.
The loss means they have still only one win so far this season and are seven points from safety.
Martin’s captain Jack Stephens was dismissed after a bizarre incident in which he pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair, but Chelsea were already well in control by that stage.
Stephens received a red card in the 39th minute at St Mary’s when his team trailed 3-1, with goals from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke adding to Axel Disasi’s early strike, which had been briefly canceled out by Joe Aribo’s equaliser.
Southampton 1 Chelsea 5
Russell Martin’s side run ragged by Chelsea, but spent nearly an hour with ten men after captain Jack Stephens was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair
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The second half saw further punishment for Martin’s men, as Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho added to Chelsea’s tally, deepening Southampton’s woes.
The home crowd voiced their displeasure, booing the team off the pitch at the final whistle and Martin said: “I understand that people want their team to win and when they see such a big scoreline and a couple of goals we concede, I understand it.
“So it’s football, right? It’s emotive and people feel so much about it, it’s why it’s such a special sport in this country and so big so I understand it.
“I feel really proud of the players tonight. Some of the football they played, we played, 11 against 11 was amazing and we should have been 1-0 up.
“We conceded such poor goals, a set play and a mistake, but the response was brilliant, we’re so in the game, have good moments and hurt them with the ball.
“They hurt us as well because they have top talent but I saw a team that looked confident and took the ball a lot in the press early on in the game.
“We have a moment that changed the game because I thought we were in it, there were goals for us and then for an hour with 10 men we dug in so deep.
“There were some big performances and I’m proud of them for that and I’m grateful to them for that because that’s not easy in that circumstance.
“It would be so easy at that point to stop running a bit, stop wanting the ball but they didn’t and there were some big performances.”
When asked how he expected the club’s leadership to evaluate the night’s performance, Martin added: “I hope in the same way it would judge any other performance.
“We have to b realistic and put it in perspective. We’ve played against one of the best teams in the country at the moment with 10 men for an hour.
“They see a team that is absolutely together and fighting so hard and who show that in the way they run and want to take the ball for each other.
“I think all I can ever ask is they work as hard as they possibly can and they fight as hard as they can – and I believe they’re doing that.”
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