SAINTS boss Russell Martin believes Adam Armstrong is still upset with him after benching him for the first time this season.
After scoring in Saturday’s 4-3 victory over Birmingham City, the 27-year-old now has 17 goals and 11 assists for the season.
Armstrong began on the bench in Southampton’s recent loss to Millwall at St Mary’s, and he also appeared as a substitute against Liverpool in the FA Cup.
The 2-1 loss to Millwall marked the first time Armstrong, who captains in place of Jack Stephens, had missed a league game this season.
Martin told the Daily Echo: “I am still furious at myself for removing him from the team.
“I think we’re a better team having him on it. In retrospect, I should not have, but we believed there was justification for him needing to relax.
“We believed we’d be fine without him, but we weren’t, which speaks to how good he has been.
“There are decisions you make during a season that make you kick yourself,” he said.
“The men at the weekend told me I ought to accept some credit for the subs because I’m too hard on myself when things don’t work.
“But when things go wrong, you always feel like you could have done more or shouldn’t have made the adjustment.
“After the game at West Brom, we made a change to the team that I am still upset about, and it is my fault, not anyone else’s.
“Do I think Arma’s departure from the team has anything to do with his performance and perhaps a touch of freshness? Probably not.
“I believe he is still pissed off with me and wants to prove me wrong again. “I get that feeling.”We have a lot of trust in each other, but I know he’s furious at me for leaving him out of the squad, and he should be.
“He ignored me for about 10 minutes on Saturday, and I had to scream across the pitch, ‘I know you’re unhappy, but I love you and am trying to assist you.
“Ethan Laird smiled at me because he played under me and knows I’m a little strange or different; Arma didn’t look at me.”
“After the game, he was smiling again – he will stay in the team and hopefully he keeps doing what he has been doing.”
Armstrong was part of a terrifying front three that scored at St Andrews last week.
Che Adams and David Brooks scored their tenth and second league goals, respectively, to put the Saints ahead for the first time in the match.
Martin continued, “I am overjoyed with everyone of them; I thought Arma was fantastic – really involved.
“The role Che played as well cannot be underestimated. Bringing and taking the ball, linking the play.
“He was involved three times in the build-up to the first goal, and he is crucial to how we want to play.
“It’s not always going to come off but he took the ball everywhere and really deserves his goal – he was brilliant.”
He went on to say, “We discussed what we needed before January, and it was Brooksy, and we were quite anxious about not obtaining him.
“At that point, we assumed that if we didn’t get Brooksy, we’d have to figure it out since he was the one we wanted.
“He is a fantastic character with a lot of talent; I joined training the day after Liverpool and it was a pleasure to play alongside him.
“He would not say the same about playing with me. He also won’t score on Saturday until Will Smallbone runs relentlessly for him.”
Armstrong, Brooks, and Adams might all hold their spots for Preston North End’s visit on Wednesday, March 6 at 7:45pm.
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