Saints have completed the £175,000 signing of Southend striker Lee Barnard, with youngster Matt Paterson moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal.

Barnard began his career at Tottenham, coming through the Academy system there, and had a good scoring record in the reserve team. He had a number of loan moves, including spells at Exeter City, Stevenage Borough, Leyton Orient, Northampton Town and Crewe Alexandra, before Shrimpers manager Steve Tilson signed him on a free transfer in January 2008.

In two years at Roots Hall, he has scored 37 goals in 69 starts, and has already netted 15 times in League One this season - more than half of Southend’s goals in the league to date - so Saints now have two of the top four goalscorers in the division on their books.

Barnard was suspended for Southend’s 3-0 FA Cup third round defeat at Gillingham, so he is not cup-tied for that competition, and could make his debut in tomorrow’s match against Ipswich Town.

The transfer fee is relatively low because he was out of contract at Roots Hall in the summer, so the Shrimpers have cashed in while they can still get some cash for him.

Saints and Millwall kicked off this season’s League One campaign with a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s in front of the Sky cameras. Matt Paterson opened the scoring only for Nadjim Abdou to rescue a point for the Lions.

Alan Pardew was given a selection headache with the news that both Grzegorz Rasiak and Joseph Mills were ruled out through injury, Rasiak’s injury leaving just two fit strikers available to him, so Matt Paterson and Marek Saganowski started up front. Dan Harding and Graeme Murty made their Saints debuts at the back alongside Chris Perry and the fit-again Wayne Thomas. Morgan Schneiderlin and Paul Wotton were paired in the centre of midfield with Lloyd James and Adam Lallana playing wide.

After an enthusiastically observed minute’s applause in memory of Sir Bobby Robson, the game got underway, but was fairly uneventful until just before the half-hour mark when Saganowski’s layoff saw Scheiderlin attempt a lob over Millwall keeper David Forde from 30 yards, which Forde managed to get fingertips on to touch the ball over for a corner. From the resulting corner, Chris Perry hit a volley which struck the outside of the near post.

Schneiderlin had another effort from distance just before half-time when Forde’s poor clearance found the Frenchman on the edge of the centre circle. He took a touch to control the ball and hit a dipping effort which flicked the roof of the net as it went just over the bar.

Millwall sprung into life in first-half stoppage time when new signing Steve Morison found some space in the area but a combination of Davis and a desperate last-ditch challenge by Perry saw the ball ricochet to safety.

Half-Time: Saints 0-0 Millwall

The visitors were quickest out of the blocks in the second half with Scott Barron being allowed time and space from distance to fire a shot just wide. This kicked Saints into action, and from a Graeme Murty long throw on the right, Saganowski flicked the ball on to Paterson who wriggled clear of the last defender and calmly slotted the ball past Forde to give the home side the lead.

The goal forced Millwall manager Kenny Jackett into a double substitution, bringing Jason Price and Ali Fuseni on to add a bit more strength and height up front, and suddenly the visitors were causing more problems for the up-until-now untested Saints defence.

Just five minutes later, the Lions reaped the benefit of the added pressure. A rare poor pass by Schneiderlin led to a counter-attack which ended in Price going to ground very easily under not much of a challenge by Thomas, with referee Mick Russell pointing to the penalty spot.

Gary Alexander stepped up to take it, but Saints keeper Kelvin Davis guessed right and made a good save, also managing to block Price’s rapid follow-up shot as well, as Murty just about tidied up from the second rebound.

It wasn’t long before Millwall did break through, though. Just three minutes later, they were fortunate to earn a corner when TV replays showed the last touch was from a visiting player. Alexander won the initial header at the far post, heading back into the middle of the penalty area where Nadjim Abdou leapt the highest to power a header into the top corner for 1-1.

Millwall thought they’d taken the lead with 15 minutes to go when Alexander got to the bye-line and put the ball across the six-yard box where Barron tapped in at the far post. Fortunately, the linesman’s flag had already been raised as the ball had gone out of play for a goal kick - subsequent replays proved inconclusive.

With the visitors setting the pace in the closing stages, Saints nearly snatched a win in the last minute. Substitute Oscar Gobern’s run and cross was destined for fellow replacement Jake Thomson with an open goal to aim at, but Barron was on hand to head the ball over the bar from a yard out.

Full-Time: Saints 1-1 Millwall

Verdict: There will be few complaints about the result given Millwall’s pressure and dominance in the latter stages of the game, and TV replays suggested they were perhaps unfortunate not to have scored a second goal. However, last season the defence would have completely crumbled under such pressure and we’d have probably lost 2 or 3-1, so progress has been made in that department.

The defence looked much more solid, particularly aided by the strength of Wayne Thomas - keeping him fit could prove crucial this season - and the experience and composure of Graeme Murty. Dan Harding also impressed at left-back.

In midfield, Morgan Schneiderlin probably had his best game in a Saints shirt, and was unlucky not to score at least one long-range effort in the first half. He paired well with Paul Wotton who sat deep and allowed Schneiderlin the space to get involved when we had the ball.

Up front, Matt Paterson looked anything but a rookie with just three first-team starts to his name, and it was good to see Marek Saganowski looking like he can actually be bothered to put in a bit of effort - he’s a completely different player when he’s got the right attitude. His fitness is clearly lacking a bit at the moment, but that will come with time.

One concern is the size of the squad - Paterson and Saganowski were the only two fit strikers available to Alan Pardew today, which meant that out of seven substitutes, we didn’t have a single attacking player available. If we’d been chasing the game, we’d have really struggled.

Club CEO Nicola Cortese has told fans to expect some signings in the next week or two - a striker and a centre-back should probably be highest on Pardew’s shopping list.

With today’s performance, there’s no reason why we can’t get a top-10 finish even with the points deduction, and with a few good additions to the squad it’s possible we could even do more than that.

A last-minute strike from Tony Taggart prevented Saints making a winning start to their pre-season campaign after Matt Paterson’s strike looked as though it would prove enough for victory.

Mark Wotte named an experienced starting lineup, with Bartosz Bialkowski starting in goal for the first time since the Carling Cup defeat to Rotherham last season in place of Kelvin Davis who is not insured to play in games while he is out of contract. There was also a return for Wayne Thomas - who has been sidelined for nearly a year with a cruciate ligament injury - and Grzegorz Rasiak, who spent last season on loan at Watford. The least experienced starters were Oscar Gobern and Jake Thomson with 18 first-team appearances between them.

The home side had the better of the opening exchanges with Bialkowski being tested by Marcus Richardson and former Saints trainee Brett Poate, Richardson having a header from a corner ruled out for a foul on the Polish keeper.

Gobern and Paterson both saw efforts at the other end miss the target, and Saints had a further let-off just before half-time when Bialkowski again denied Poate, tipping his 25-yard effort onto the post and behind for a corner.

Half-Time: Eastleigh 0-0 Saints

Wotte made 10 changes at half-time, with Matt Paterson being the only player kept on from the first half. This meant first-team debuts for the likes of Tommy Forecast, Jack Boyle and Anthony Pulis.

The youngsters looked eager to impress, and it came as no great surprise when Saints took the lead on the hour mark. Calum McNish played an expert through-ball for Paterson who fired the ball low underneath the oncoming keeper.

Paterson was replaced with 20 minutes to go, Jamie White taking his place for his first game back after breaking his leg in a reserve team game.

With time ticking away, and Saints looking likely to hold on to a slender victory, Taggart’s late intervention saw his shot squeeze past Forecast into the bottom corner, which most agreed was probably a deserving equaliser for the Spitfires.

Saints are next in action against AFC Totton on Tuesday night, kick-off at 7.45pm.

Two goals from Jason Euell and a first senior strike for Matt Paterson gave Saints a comprehensive win at Ipswich to make it three in a row for the first time this season. Could the Great Escape be on the cards again?

My view of the action as the players clap the fans at the end.

It was the Saints who started the brighter out of the two teams, applying a fair amount of pressure on the Ipswich rearguard in the first 20 minutes, but without little reward .First Saganowski drifted out to the left and pulled back well, but no-one was in the box, before the polish international dispossessed Town captain McCauley and bore down on goal, only for the defender to recover and tackle well.

Moments later Saganowski dropped deep and fed McGoldrick, who turned expertly well in order to lay off for Surman to shoot, but his effort was deflected over the bar for a corner kick. While the home side finally got a sniff at goal when Stead cut in and blasted woefully over the bar and they should have done better when Quinn dinked a ball through the middle for Counago, who was forced wide by Saeijs and fired past the side netting.

Saints had a golden chance to open the scoring with just over a quarter of the game gone, when Euell curled a high and accurate through ball over the top for Saganowski, who’s cheeky attempt at a lob was smothered well by former Southampton loanee goalkeeper Richard Wright. But an even better chance would come minutes later, in which the referee had a large role to play….

Surman’s whipped free kick delivery was perfect and Saejis’ header flew into the net, only for the linesman to disallow for an apparent foul. Frustration wouldn’t last for long though, when the away side would score an almost carbon copy goal, without the fouling…

Surman again swung in a great free kick and JASON EUELL rose above McCauley to guide a header into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Euell would enjoy further recognition from the away support when he headed away to safety from a goal bound lob from Norris - who was in plenty of space, when Davis failed to punch away a free kick and was left stranded.

And the hosts appeared to slowly be getting back into the game, when they hit the frame of the goal. Quinn found David Wright in space and the full back shot against the cross bar. It would have been harsh on Saints who had fought hard and deserved a half time lead, which they could have doubled, when Schneiderlin sprayed the ball out wide to McGoldrick, who in turn supplied Skacel, but his fizzing ball across goal was not met by the outstretched Saganowski.

Half time: Ipswich Town 0-1 Southampton

The Saints came out for the second half showing the same desire as they had in the first half. And David McGoldrick was first to get a shot away, when he collected Davis’ goal kick and attempted a swerving strike from distance, which Wright did well to gather.

McGoldrick seemed in a determined mood in the second half and could have scored a wonder goal, when he cut in from the right, beating two defenders, before curling millimetres wide of the post, when perhaps he could have crossed.

Ipswich did offer a threat from set pieces, with McCauley nodding on for half time sub Walters to head at goal, but his shot was just over the bar. However Saints were still continuing to create chances and show desire to take all three points. First McGoldrick forced Wright into a smart save, where he had to parry wide, before Perry’s volley from the resulting corner by Gillett was ruled out, again for another unseen foul.

The home side responded with desperation and should have done better to equalise, when another substitute Lisbie turned in the box, but saw his low shot tipped wide.

But it was Saints who failed in the decision making department, first Saganowski cut in and shot at Wright’s legs, when he had Euell screaming for the ball. Before Surman dispossessed Bruce and squared for Euell and McGoldrick to both combine to miss from a matter of yards, when their was space at the near post for Surman to tuck the ball away.

Saints did manage to stamp victory on the match, when late on JASON EUELL chased onto a through ball and shot at Wright, but with the keeper grounded, Euell managed to nick the ball away and turn, before firing into the empty net.

And to complete a fantastic display, MATT PATERSON, who had just come on as a substitute, won the ball in midfield and with his first touch, shot low into the bottom corner, from the edge of the box, for his first senior goal.

Full time: Ipswich Town 0-3 Southampton

This was an excellent performance from Saints and things are starting to look up. At last we have a decent formation, at last we have a decent blend of youth and experience and at last the burden is off David McGoldrick as a lone striker, as we are now playing both Saganowski and Euell upfront and I believe this is the reason for our three wins on the bounce - the game at Ipswich sharing similarities in performance from the previous two wins at home to Preston and Cardiff.

Again we played with a diamond shaped midfield and the team could be proud of the effort they put in over the course of the game. Our passing was much better than the opposition, furthermore we managed to close down the opposition frequently and this forced the defence to put a lot of balls out for throw-in’s that perhaps weren’t necessary.

Upfront Euell closed down well and held the ball up to feet really well, which enabled Saganowski to drift into the channels and McGoldrick to push forward from midfield - this was particularly noticeable in the second half.

In midfield Surman had a great game and his delivery for the first goal was lovely. He also showed some good range of passing and a tireless display. Schneiderlin was solid enough, but not spectacular and same with Gillett, who I felt was a little off the pace.

In defence I was particularly impressed with the contribution of Chris Perry, who won a number of headers and vital blocks, while Saeijs was solid as ever and the two full backs Skacel and James got forward well.

Overall I think we thoroughly deserved to win, as we outclassed and fought harder than Ipswich in most and if not all departments of the game. Ipswich of whom, did not look a top 10 side. For the next game I wouldn’t change anything and think we could be successful if we attack Birmingham in the same manner as we have attacked teams in the last three games.

Ten-man Saints were, as expected, well beaten by the English, European and World champions Manchester United at St Mary’s this evening as goals from Danny Wellbeck, Nani and Darron Gibson ensured there was to be no giant-killing act.

Jan Poortvliet was forced into one change from the side that drew 1-1 against Reading last week with Olly Lancashire replacing the recalled Jack Cork, who has now joined Watford on loan for the rest of the season. Lee Holmes wasn’t deemed fit enough to start, so Andrew Surman came straight back into the team having recovered from the foot injury he suffered late in the Boxing Day clash at Plymouth.

United made a number of changes from the side that beat Middlesbrough in the Premier League. Gary Neville replaced Rafael da Silva at right-back, Anderson, Nani and Ryan Giggs came into midfield for Park Ji Sung, Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo, while Danny Welbeck partnered Dimitar Berbatov up front.

The game was flowing nicely from end to end in the opening exchanges, with Saints not looking too overawed by the occasion. Ryan Smith, David McGoldrick and Rudi Skacel all had efforts from long-range, although none troubled Edwin van der Sar in the United goal. Ryan Giggs shot tamely wide at the other end, and Surman got in a last-ditch block to deny Welbeck an opportunity.

Saints were looking fairly comfortable as the 20-minute mark approached, but then all that decent work was undone from a set-piece. Carrick’s corner found John O’Shea unmarked at the near post, whose header was brilliantly diverted onto the crossbar by Kelvin Davis, but the rebound fell kindly for Welbeck to nod into the empty net. There didn’t seem to be any suggestion of anything “wrong” with the goal at the time, and there were no protests from the Saints defence, but TV replays suggested that Welbeck was actually offside when O’Shea won the header at the near post, so in actual fact, Saints had been hard done by, although in mitigation it was a very tight call so I don’t really pin any blame on the referee’s assistant for missing it.

United almost doubled their lead five minutes later when a great bit of link-up play between Carrick and Berbatov found Carrick in the clear. He chipped the ball over the onrushing Davis and looked certain to tap into an empty net when Chris Perry arrived from nowhere to put in a challenge that saw the ball ricochet off Carrick’s shin and behind for a goal kick.

Saints almost fashioned a way back into the game shortly after when Jonny Evans’ control let McGoldrick in for a run on goal. Evans decided the only way to stop him was a cynical foul from behind on the edge of the area which brought him a yellow card. With two other defenders in reasonably close proximity, although interestingly not nearer to the United goal than McGoldrick, it was out of Evans’ control that he survived without a dismissal. The decision was made by Mike Riley. More on him very shortly.

If Saints thought that playing against the best of the best with eleven men was going to be hard, they were about to find it even harder still, as Matt Paterson chased down a bouncing ball and, at first glance, made a seemingly inoccuous challenge on Nemanja Vidic. Nobody seemed to make a big deal out of it, least of all Vidic who hobbled around for a few seconds before going to ground to get some treatment. Riley pulled Paterson to one side and, to the astonishment of everyone, produced the red card. Even the United fans seemed completely bewildered by the decision. Again, much like Welbeck’s goal, matters were only made clearer by the benefit of TV highlights after the game. On reflection, while Paterson’s challenge wasn’t made with a great deal of force, it’s clear to see why Riley produced the straight red card, as Paterson’s studs made clear contact high up on Vidic’s shin. That said, in context with some high-profile challenges that have taken place recently (Julio Arca on Andy Johnson in the Premier League being the one that immediately springs to mind), Paterson might still feel a little hard done by.

Welbeck had an opportunity to double United’s advantage a minute before half-time when his near-post flick was turned away by Davis’ foot, and Saints held on to go into the break with a one-goal deficit and a chance to regroup.

They came out at the start of the second half looking determined to turn things around, but unfortunately Mike Riley put paid to that within three minutes. Lloyd James was penalised for a supposed foul on Nani on the edge of the area, when it looked clear that he had made contact with the ball. From the resulting free-kick, which Nani took himself, the ball struck the back of David McGoldrick’s head and appeared to rebound to the relative safety of a corner. Riley had other ideas, though, and - to the bemusement of everyone - awarded a penalty. Nani stepped up and sent Davis the wrong way to all but seal United’s passage to a Fourth Round home tie against Tottenham.

Both teams made a double substitution ten minutes into the second half. For the visitors, Darron Gibson and Rodrigo Possebon replaced Carrick and Giggs, and for Saints, Morgan Schneiderlin made his return from another injury setback alongside Kayne McLaggon in place of Simon Gillett and Oscar Gobern.

Ryan Smith then created Saints’ best chance of the game when he outmuscled O’Shea on the right wing and then cut inside Evans to open United’s defence wide open, but he appeared to lose his footing just as he was letting fly with a shot that ended up going just over the bar and into the crowd.

You could be forgiven for thinking that United, with plenty of big games coming up in the next few weeks, would want to take their foot off the pedal a bit with the game seemingly now out of reach, but Sir Alex Ferguson was having none of that, and he brought on Wayne Rooney to replace Welbeck. Jan Poortvliet also made Saints’ last substitution, replacing Smith with Lee Holmes.

To be honest, the rest of the game was pretty forgettable. With 9 minutes remaining, Rooney managed to wriggle free of Lancashire’s attention, and with the angle against him, decided to cut the ball back to the oncoming Gibson, who took a touch before firing past Davis to make it 3-0, and that was that.

It’s hard to guage what to take from this game, really. Clearly we’re not going to be playing against the likes of Berbatov, Rooney and Vidic every week, and they’re a cut above any Championship player. While we were on level terms, both in terms of the score and in terms of players on the pitch, we were at least competing. With the main focal point for the attack sat in the dressing room, it was always going to be that much harder, and it should come as not much of a surprise that we struggled to cope with the extra ability right through their team with that added disadvantage.

The age-old cliche will be that we are now free to concentrate on the league, and one “bonus” is that the players will have an extra break at the end of the month when the fourth round takes place. With so many young players in the squad, most of whom aren’t used to playing more than 15-20 games a season but have already got through the best part of 30, that rest period could be crucial to recharge some batteries.