Last night, Southampton defeated Coventry City 2-1, and Russell Martin has since provided an explanation for why Jan Bednarek was not included in the team.
Southampton defeated play-off-chasing Coventry City 2-1 at St. Mary’s, as promotion rivals Leeds United and Leicester City lost ground.
After their disheartening goalless draw with Blackburn Rovers, Russell Martin called on his team to respond, and they did just that.
Kyle Walker-Peters unleashed a fierce attack that deftly deflected off Che Adams’ back, caught Brad Collins off guard, and allowed him to bundle in his second goal from a corner.
Martin’s tactical substitutions paid off as the Saints easily defeated Coventry City in the first half.
He used Walker-Peters as an inverted full-back on one occasion, and he moved Jack Stephens back into his usual central defensive position.
This worked well as the South Coasters comfortably built up possession from defence, although there was one glaring omission.
Russell Martin discusses the exclusion of Jan Bednarek Vs Coventry
Jan Bednarek, who has appeared in 36 of Southampton’s 40 Championship games this season, is having an outstanding campaign. With a 96% completion percentage and a second-place finish in the Championship for most successful passes made each game (92.6), the Polish titan is a master passer.
Bednarek is just as good in defensive duels, recovering 6.2 balls per game and winning 60% (1.7) of his aerial duels.
Martin, 27, has now given an explanation for his exclusion from the starting lineup against the Sky Blues.
“Janny took a big whack against Ipswich and he managed to get through the game on Saturday at Blackburn,” Martin told the Daily Echo.
“He was still really stiff and sore. We looked at it and thought about if he really needed to play through the pain tonight.
“We didn’t think he needed to because we have two really competent centre-backs at this level.”
Southampton have strength in depth
Southampton can afford to start Stephens and Taylor Harwood-Bellis as a strong defensive combo in place of Bednarek. While Stephens has made over 250 appearances for the Saints, Harwood-Bellis, who is presently on loan from Manchester City, assisted Burnley in winning the Championship the previous season.
Many Saints fans are upset because they cannot control automatic promotion because of the team’s superior central defense, which is something most teams can only dream of possessing.
With their rivals remaining to play, Southampton can win both of their games in hand and close the gap to just three points after watching Leeds draw with Sunderland and Leicester lose to Millwall.
Other teams have shown them favors since they were written off after the Ipswich outcome, and Martin’s men must pounce on their slip-ups to give themselves an outside chance.