Goals from Dele Adebola and Ivan Sproule consigned Saints to another defeat to keep us 4 points from safety.

Bristol city got out of the blocks the faster of the two teams and made their intentions known in the first few minutes. As the ball bobbled around harmlessly in the middle of the park, Gavin Williams lashed a 30 yard effort just wide, which left Kelvin Davis scrambling across his goal. And after  Saints centre back Jan Paul Saeijs deflected Lee Johnsons long range effort wide, ex Ipswich midfielder Williams went close from the resulting corner, as he turned just inside the box and saw his low goalbound effort well saved with a strong right hand from Davis.

My view of the game

The home side continued to squander chances and none better than a penalty with under a quarter of the game gone. Rudi Skacel was deemed to have tugged forward Nicky Maynard in the box and although the decision seemed a little soft, the referee was certain in his decision and Bradley Orr stepped up and saw his effort saved! The penalty was struck well enough, but wasn’t far enough into the corner and Davis guessed the right way.

City again could have scored moments later, when Maynard picked up a ball from midfield and showed nice trickery to turn Chris Perry inside out, but his placed shot was just inches wide of the post.

However Saints started to retain the ball in midfield a little better and create chances of their own, and while Wotton shot woefully wide from Surman’s pass, the away side created a great opening moments later, when David McGoldrick went on a jinking run past three players and showed good awareness to tee up Schneiderlin, whose low shot hit the frame of the goal.

A clinical finish was needed from someone and unfortunately was to come from the home side as DELE ADEBOLA made amends for placing a one on one shot straight at the keeper moments earlier. The man mountain striker latched onto a chipped through ball from Williams, which bamboozled the Southampton backline – adamant they had played the striker offside and he coolly slotted home past Davis for 1-0.

Southampton pressed immediately for an equaliser and should have had one as the half drew to a close. Saganowski pulled back unselfishly to Jason Euell, in space on the edge of the box, but again the frame of the goal denied us and even though the ball came straight back to Euell, he could only blaze over the rebound.

Half time: Bristol City 1-0 Southampton

The away side came out for the second half with a point to prove and pressed the home side for long periods of the half. Lloyd James in particular was a threat down the right hand side, although he couldn’t seem to fashion a goal scoring opportunity, with the home defence in a resolute mood.

Their defence was almost breached though, when Surman whipped in a decent corner and McGoldrick rose highest to nod towards goal – Louis Carey clearing off the line.

But the best chance of the afternoon for Saints to level the scores again fell to Jason Euell, who again missed. Substitute Kayne McGlaggon forced Adriano Basso into a decent low save, but the ball came loose to Skacel, who squared for Euell to stab hopelessly wide from close range.

Adam Lallana looked determined to level proceedings, first seeing his low shot smartly saved by Basso and then attempting a cracking volley from a Skacel cross, which was deflected wide. And while Saints pushed without any luck, Bristol City could have further extend their lead, when Maynard accelerated past James and then Saeijs, but cut in and fired over. 

But as Saints pushed one last time it just wasn’t to be. Kelvin Davis came up for a stoppage corner and unsurprisingly, the delivery was poor by Gillett - who had replaced Wotton moments earlier. Basso claiming with ease, before launching the ball up field for IVAN SPROULE  to sprint away and roll into the back of the unguarded net.

Full Time: Bristol City 2-0 Southampton

Things look bleak for Saints, very bleak.  I can’t help but wonder if we’d have capitulated had Orr scored his penalty. What if we’d have converted one of our three decent chances, though? A game of missed chances – maybe we could have deserved a point, but in truth, we offered absolutely nothing upfront.

Saganowski and McGoldrick were a no show and didn’t once get into a decent goal scoring position. Our attacking play was too predictable – Lloyd James chipping balls down the flanks all too often, which to me sparks tactical ineptitude from the manager Wotte.

We lined up with Surman down the left flank – who offers nothing as a winger due to his lack of pace or strength to hold people off, in order to get one of his decent balls into the box. While Schneiderlin was playing wide right – out of position. He tried very hard and showed good touches and passes, but he doesn’t have the ability to beat his man… so why continuously chip down the wings?

The second half was much better; we adapted the tactics a little after the pointless first half and played with a little more intent. More direct, more passing, more through the middle and we looked more of a threat – Jason Euell in particular adding some real steel to the midfield, although maybe he could do with some shooting boots!

I must say we looked better when Lallana and McGlaggon were introduced, both of whom can play out wide, however with nothing upfront, we were always going to struggle.

For Bristol City, Williams played some good through balls and this was key as their strikers can play off that style very well. Adebola was physical as ever and Maynard fed off him well, running at the defence at every given opportunity and really testing Perry and Saeijs, who in fairness did quite well.

I fear for our championship status and fear that we don’t have enough fight. It’s our lack of knowledge of how to win games that will prove our biggest downfall.

Saints slipped to another defeat in front of the Sky cameras with Lee Johnson’s goal proving the deciding factor in a fairly dull game.

Johnson curled home from just inside the penalty area seconds after Dele Adebola had rattled the post seven minutes into the second half. Saints keeper Kelvin Davis had earlier saved a Michael McIndoe penalty awarded for a handball by Alex Pearce, making his home debut.

Jan Poortvliet made three changes to the team that started at Preston last week, all in midfield. Paul Wotton came into the holding role in place of Morgan Schneiderlin, Adam Lallana replaced Lloyd James with Jack Cork switching to right-back and there was a first start for Oscar Gobern who impressed coming off the bench at Deepdale.

In driving rain and swirling winds, both sides found it difficult to get any sort of momentum, although Saints did manage to force a succession of early corners. On the rare occasions the visitors went forward in the early exchanges, they were usually stopped in their tracks by an offside flag. However, they did have a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring in the 18th minute when a deep corner was headed back towards goal but was blocked by the left arm of Alex Pearce, who had his arm in the air as a result of the momentum of jumping for the initial header. Unlucky, certainly, but also the correct decision to award a penalty.

Michael McIndoe stepped up to take it and went for power ahead of precision, and his effort was hit just right of centre. Kelvin Davis guessed the right way and parried the ball away to safety.

To illustrate how uneventful the game was, that was probably the last meaningful action in the first half! Oscar Gobern didn’t get many opportunities to get involved as the majority of the play came down the Saints right hand side in the first half, and while Jake Thomson was heavily involved and showed some good footwork, once again his final ball was disappointing, and he was replaced by Bradley Wright-Phillips at half-time, who took up position wide on the left. Gobern moved inside and Lallana went to the right.

Saints finally forced Adriano Basso into making a save early in the second half when Cork and Lallana teamed up well on the right allowing Lallana to cut inside and hit a left-foot shot from 20 yards which the Brazilian keeper blocked comfortably.

City then took the lead in the 52nd minute - a long kick by Basso, which got carried further by the wind than Olly Lancashire was expecting, was chased down by Dele Adebola. His shot from 8 yards smacked against the post and appeared to rebound to relative safety. David Noble collected the rebound 25 yards out and his clever pass picked out the unmarked Lee Johnson who curled the ball into the top corner.

Saints forced City onto the back foot from this point onwards as they pressed for the equaliser, forcing a succession of corners and free kicks in wide positions. Unfortunately the final ball was lacking the quality required, particularly given our lack of height. Both Rudi Skacel and Andrew Surman were guilty of either not beating the first defender or lifting the ball straight into the grateful arms of Basso.

Jason Euell came on for Paul Wotton on the hour mark to try and force the pace a bit more up front, and Euell had a decent chance a minute later but his shot flashed wide of the far post. David McGoldrick and Oscar Gobern both also had opportunities but couldn’t make the breakthrough. Arguably the best chance, though, fell for Lallana after a clever back-heel by Surman. The opportunity seemed to be there for an instant shot but he took an extra touch to beat the last defender but that touch took the ball into the arms of the onrushing keeper.

Gavin Williams was booked for a cynical challenge from behind on McGoldrick as he looked to be bearing down on the visiting defence, and he was very fortunate not to collect a second booking only a few minutes later. First, he was penalised for a deliberate handball, and then shortly afterwards he lunged into Rudi Skacel chest-high but went down himself claiming injury. The referee seemed to fall for what was a blatant dirty trick and didn’t issue his second yellow card. That was to be Williams’ last involvement in the game, though, as City manager Gary Johnson hastily made a substitution and brought Ivan Sproule on in Williams’ place.

Saints continued to dominate territorially but couldn’t fashion any more clear chances as the City defence held firm, and the final whistle condemned Saints to another home defeat and another defeat in front of the Sky TV cameras.

While the performance wasn’t terrible by any means, the club as a whole is going to continue to struggle as long as we are not picking up results at home. It’s encouraging that we’re starting to win games away from home, which has been a big problem for us for as long as I can remember, but it’s the results at home that will bring the crowds back into St Mary’s and we have the joint-worst home record in the Championship (level with Forest and Doncaster, the bottom two teams). That has to improve if we’re going to stay in this division, and things don’t look like getting much easier for us, with table-topping Wolves the next team to visit next week.

Saints go into tomorrow’s game against Bristol City full of confidence and looking to consign the poor televised match record to the history books.

Last season’s meeting between the two sides ultimately proved crucial for both teams for very different reasons. Victory for the Saints with one of their best performances of the season gave fresh impetus to the team to keep us in the Championship, while a dreadful City performance brought their table-topping momentum to a halt and they were to miss out on promotion to the Premier League in the play-off final.

History is in Saints’ favour on the head-to-head figures. City have only ever won twice in Southampton, once in the 1909 FA Cup and once in the old Division Two in 1975. In fact, from 16 meetings in Southampton, Saints have won 12.

So the stats are on our side from that perspective. However, there’s always a spanner just waiting to be thrown into the works, and this occasion is no different. The game will be televised live on Sky Sports. So far this season, that’s automatically equalled defeat, with games against Blackpool, QPR and Coventry ending pointless. Runs have to come to an end at some point though, be they good or bad, and hopefully the Sky jinx will be ended by 7.15pm tomorrow night.

Saints will be without the injured Simon Gillett and the ill Jordan Robertson. Adam Lallana is expected to return from the ankle injury that forced him to miss the win at Preston last week. Michael Svensson is still not quite ready, and Jason Euell will undergo a late fitness test.

Bristol City are expected to only make one change to the team who were outclassed 4-1 at home by Reading last week. Stern John, on loan from us of course, is ineligible for this game, with Lee Trundle the most likely replacement. Club record signing Nicky Maynard is also rated as doubtful but is still expected to play.

If you’re unable to make it to St Mary’s tomorrow, you can catch the game live on Sky Sports 1 (also in HD) from 5.15pm.

Saints’ Trinidad & Tobago striker Stern John has joined Championship rivals Bristol City on loan until New Years Day.

Looking brutally at the decision to loan out last season’s top scorer, it seems clear that the club’s finances have taken another lurch downwards in recent months - not aided by the poor attendances at St Mary’s this season - and that the board are hoping that the removal of John’s wages from the weekly expenditure will keep Barclays satisfied for the time being.

Reports have been circulating via various sources in recent weeks suggesting that the club’s overdraft has increased from £6m in the summer to a whopping £8m, despite numerous cost-cutting exercises including the disposal of a number of high earners in the close season which saved the club somewhere in the region of £100,000 per week. Quite how long the bank will allow this situation to go on for is unclear and while performances on the pitch have been no worse than last season, they haven’t been good enough to attract a significant number of fans back to home games.

It’s expected that John’s departure could be the first of another wave of high-profile exits with the sole intention of staving off administration for the time being. Young prospects Andrew Surman and Adam Lallana were linked with moves away from St Mary’s in the summer and it’s likely that they’ll be the first names in the rumour columns in the papers as the January transfer window gets closer.