Goals from David Connolly, Dean Hammond and Rickie Lambert saw Saints record an impressive 3-1 win at Walsall to go 10 away games unbeaten.

Saints welcomed back David Connolly to the side after injury, the striker coming into the side in place of Papa Waigo, while Chris Perry kept his place in defence ahead of Neal Trotman.

My impeded view of the game.

Walsall boasted a good home record going into the match – only Leeds United coming away with maximum points from the Banks’ stadium this season. And the Saddlers set about opening the scoring early on and could have done so twice. After Mark Bradley had shot after for the hosts, Troy Deeney latched onto a weak headed back pass by Chris Perry. He was forced wide though and saw his effort hit the side netting.

Ex-Burnley man Steve Jones has been in good form this season and it was his free kick which allowed Darren Byfield a free header, but the much travelled striker’s effort looped just wide to the relief of Saints stand in keeper Bialkowski; who mightn’t had it covered had it been on target.

The game was a tight affair and clear cut chances for the opening thirty minutes were few and far between. Connolly curled over from distance from a Lambert lay off and Schneiderlin sliced wide after Lallana had headed James’ cross from the right wing into his path.

While Saints appeared to try and build up play slowly and pressurise, the Saddlers seemed content in bypassing midfield play and loft balls over the top and in behind the defence in order to play to the strengths of Deeney and Byfield – their speed. This wasn’t working though as both Perry and Jaidi were reading the game well at the heart of the Southampton defence.

It was a scrappy game that needed sparking into life and it was Saints who took the initiative and got a good passing game going, creating much more space to attack. Morgan Schneiderlin was the key catalyst in Saints’ attacks with some lovely cross field passes, but it was a great ball from Lloyd James which culminated in the opening goal.

CONNOLLY played the ball into James, who returned an inch perfect through ball for the striker to race onto and drive the ball into the bottom left hand corner from just inside the box.

Saints upped the pressure and immediately went for a second goal, which they were unlucky not to get, when a cross from the left fell to the feet of Hammond in the box and the midfielder prodded the ball just wide.

A second goal was added to the tally before the break though for the away side, who continued to spray the ball around with impressive accuracy. Schneiderlin bent a ball down the right flank for Connolly, who cut in and saw his effort deflected into the path of HAMMOND, who made no mistake from close range – slotting the ball under the body of Walsall keeper Clayton Ince.

Half Time: Walsall 0-2 Southampton

The hosts were still struggling to create clear cut chances in the second period, with Dan Harding doing a great job of keeping Jones quiet down the right hand side. And while Walsall still persisted in trying to get in behind Jaidi and Perry, they were never likely to score – though they did have a decent chance when Smith headed Richards’ corner from the left straight at Bialkowski.

Saints all but killed the game off when the best three players on the pitch combined in setting up Rickie Lambert for a three goal lead. Schneiderlin picked out James with a chipped pass, who headed onto Connolly. He took a touch and fed LAMBERT who despite stumbling; still had time to settle himself and drill the ball past Ince into the bottom right corner of the net.

The home side did hit back immediately and were better off from trying a different approach. Deeney ran straight at the Saints defence and turned Jaidi inside out, before squaring for BYFIELD to slot home.

Saints brought on Antonio for the tiring Connolly, while Walsall brought on Parkin for a three man attack, but it was still the away side that looked more likely to score. Lallana had worked tirelessly down the left, tracking back when needed and almost had a goal for his efforts when he curled the ball inches wide from the edge of the box.

There was a brief scare for Saints when Jones crossed from the right and Bialkowski fumbled close to the goal line, but from the clearance a fourth goal was almost added when Antonio broke away with pace and cut in, only to see his low shot saved well by the legs of Ince.

Jaidi steered a header wide of the post from a Lambert cross late on and Wotton was brought on in place of Schneiderlin to tighten things up, as the Saints restricted their opponents to mainly shots from distance as they competently closed out the game for a comfortable victory.

Full Time: Walsall 1-3 Southampton