EVERY word Saints manager Russell Martin said after his side fell to a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa without registering a shot on target.

Another close scoreline but another mistake that has been punished?

RM: Yeah, another mistake and not having a shot on target is madness really, for how many times we stole the ball in the first half.

Some of the football we have played in the first half and at the start of the second half was good but we just give teams a lead too many times.

And for such poor goals. At some point when a team scores a really good goal or a bit of individual quality you can maybe accept it, but the goal was so poor. 

We kick it long because we have a scary moment just before it and we kick it long when we just don't need to, to two of the smallest players on the pitch.

It comes back and we press well, force it to one side of the pitch and we are two v one with the striker and somehow he ends up with the ball and scores.

It's madness. It's like those fine lines that hurt us too many times, really, and the goals we concede are so poor at the moment.

The effort was brilliant from the players when we were playing against a really good team. We made a lot of changes in the last 20 to 30 minutes.

We wanted to bring on some attacking players and open the game up a bit because Villa are excellent when they're organised, compact, and in shape.

They have an outstanding coach and really good players and when it became a bit more transitional it probably suited them a bit more.

We wanted the game to open up and there were moments where it did but we just don't have enough conviction or quality of decision-making in the final third.

When Taylor has the ball at his feet for the goal, what do you want him to do?

RM: I love him and I don't want to criticise but what happened can't happen. Either smooth the game out and pass to a teammate or clear it. We did neither.

How do you win the ball back in such dangerous positions and still have no shot?

RM: I don't know. We had one where we get it back and Flynn was literally in the middle of the goal and Cameron Archer was in the box.

I don't know what more I can give the players to make them really believe and that extra spark because when you're bottom of the league...

It's been tough games recently, some quality opposition, tough results, difficult decisions with VAR, difficult injuries and suspensions.

It feels like we have had a season's worth almost in like a quarter of a season. It's been interesting, to say the least, and been difficult to deal with.

I don't know what I can do, other than stop the game and tell the players how good they are at that point and what they can go and do.

We just need that little bit of spark and belief in the final third because we stole the ball a lot.

Is adding goals the primary aim in the January transfer window?

RM: Yeah, I think again we have more final third entries than them today, so we should be able to create more of what we have. 

I think the level of opposition we've gone up against recently is really evident that the front guys make such a difference because we've been so competitive.

But their front guys make a big difference to them in and around the box. We really haven't got someone, apart from Tyler, who can really change it in an instant.

He's 18 and his end product at the minute is inconsistent, which you'd expect. It's the hardest thing to find and that's why the top teams have it and others don't.

We have to find a different way. We changed shape recently and it's made us more of a threat, today it didn't. We changed shape early on in the second half.

That helped us a bit having full width and going two wingers but then it wasn't enough and we needed to find another way.

Has Nathan Wood had five minutes in his career like the end of this game?

RM: I think we were chasing and we knew it was going to end up like that because we committed so many men forward.

We had to try something to pin them back and in transition, they're very good because they put in so much effort. They brought in some fresh legs as well.

But Woody defended some big actions on his own and isolated incredibly well. I'm really pleased for him because it's been a frustrating start to his career here.

He's had to be patient, but I think he's shown all the reasons why he wanted to bring him in. Long term he's going to be an excellent player for this club.

Whether it's the Championship or Premier League, whatever it is, he's going to be an excellent addition, as is Matty Fernandes, Tyler, Sam Amo and Taylor.

They're all so young, the whole team we end up on the pitch with is. We just have to keep trying to grow them and keep making them better.

Will Ramsdale or Bednarek be back for the Tottenham game?

RM: Yeah, I think both will be back. I expect Jan definitely and Rambo I hope. It'll make a big difference, they've been big losses. Fingers crossed they'll be back.