Southampton would have walked off the Hawthorns pitch at the end of the first leg versus West Bromwich Albion the happier of the two sides, with Russell Martin thankful for the heroics of Alex McCarthy in goal.
The Saints shot-stopper, who has filled in competently since Gavin Bazunu's nasty long-term injury, pulled off a number of important saves in the 0-0 affair including one vital save to deny Grady Diangana from point-blank range.
Still, the Southampton boss will want lots more from the attackers at his disposal for the second leg back on home turf in an attempt to turn over a steely West Brom side to comfortably progress through to the final at Wembley.
Sekou Mara might well find he's axed, therefore, for a different option to take his place up top after an uninspiring showing against the Baggies last time out.
Sekou Mara's performance vs West Brom in numbers
Mara struggled to ever really get going against the brick wall of West Brom's defence in the form of Kyle Bartley and Cedric Kipre, with that no-nonsense pairing for the hosts nullifying the Frenchman when venturing forward.
The lacklustre Saints number 18 would fail to hit a single on-target effort on Alex Palmer's net, whilst also being unable to complete a single successful dribble attempt from the two managed at the Hawthorns.
Minutes played
71
Touches
17
Accurate passes
6/8 (75%)
Shots on target
0
Successful dribbles
0/2
Duels won
4/10
Only managing a pitiful 17 touches of the ball, Mara would just stroll around the pitch like a passenger for large spells of the game before Martin gambled and hauled off the poor 21-year-old for a returning Ross Stewart.
Stewart's brief but impactful cameo could well mean he's in for a shout to start the second leg over Mara, managing to fire an on-target effort – bettering Mara from just 18 minutes of action – that nearly crept in if it wasn't for the instinctive leg of Palmer intervening.
Even with Stewart troubling the West Brom defence late on, his long-standing injury issues might put Martin off throwing him in from the get-go in such a big clash.
Yet, Martin might well chuck Che Adams into the deep end regardless for this second leg – with the Scotland international having injury concerns of his own – hoping he can be the difference-maker between his team exiting the playoffs and going to Wembley.
Che Adams as a potential difference-maker vs West Brom
Thankfully for the Saints boss, Adams has only been out of action since the start of May as opposed to Stewart who has been in the St. Mary's treatment room for the majority of the campaign.
Shaking off some cobwebs to potentially start, Adams would still be raring to go after firing in 17 goals in all competitions before the playoffs got underway.
Season
Games played
Goals scored
Assists
2023/24
45
17
6
2022/23
35
10
3
2022/21
33
8
3
2020/21
42
9
5
2019/20
35
4
2
It's been a phenomenal season for a striker once labelled as being "terrific" by Ally McCoist whilst on international duty, with Southampton hoping more goals are to come from the ex-Birmingham City man on the way to promotion being successfully reached.
With murmurs about Adams' future on the South Coast continuing to rumble, the 5 foot 9 gem bowing out by being the star that saw his side return back to the Premier League would be a particularly sweet ending to his five-year stay.
Southampton will know they cannot underestimate Corberan's plucky Baggies, however, with the Saints needing to perform all guns blazing to seal a trip to Wembley for a chance at Premier League football again.
Martin must tweak formation and unleash "brilliant" Southampton star
Russell Martin could make tweaks here and there for Southampton’s opening leg test at West Bromwich Albion.
ByKelan SarsonMay 12, 2024