A controversial late equaliser from Steve Davies denied Saints a third consecutive home win after Chris Perry had given them a second-half lead in a scrappy game.

Mark Wotte kept faith with the side narrowly beaten at Birmingham on Saturday. Derby boss Nigel Clough made two changes to the team that beat Bristol City at the weekend with Andy Todd replacing Jay McEveley and John Eustace made his debut in place of Chris Porter.

From the start the visitors made it pretty clear what their intentions were, with numerous long balls being played up to Rob Hulse, with Gary Teale and Nacer Barazite expected to get forward to support him from wide positions.

It took ten minutes for either side to fashion anything resembling a shot on goal, with Morgan Schneiderlin blasting just over from 25 yards.

Derby, despite their direct approach, were starting to come into the game a bit more, and Rob Hulse will feel he probably should have done better when he found himself with a free header ten yards out, although the cross was a bit behind him.

The best chance of the half came Saints’ way midway through the first half, Andrew Surman found himself in a bit of space at a tight angle. His lob evaded Steven Bywater but went agonisingly across the face of goal. Marek Saganowski managed to keep it in play and pulled it back for Jason Euell but his shot from distance went a long way wide.

Jan-Paul Saeijs then gifted Derby a shooting chance from 25 yards when he uncerimoniously bundled Hulse to the ground, but fortunately Teale’s effort from the free kick was pretty pathetic and went well wide.

After a very forgettable first half, the referee put everyone out of their misery and blew for half-time.

Saints made a change at half-time with Adam Lallana replacing Schneiderlin on the right of midfield, but it didn’t seem to have a particularly big effect with both sides largely bypassing midfield in favour of the direct approach. Hulse chased onto one such long ball from the Derby defence and appeared to clearly shove Saeijs in the back, but the ref waved play on. Hulse took the ball towards goal but hit his shot straight at Kelvin Davis, who gathered it at the second attempt.

This seemed to serve as a wake-up call for Saints, as they forced a number of corners, which put pressure on the creaking Derby defence, and finally one of them paid off just before the hour mark. Simon Gillett’s deep corner was knocked down by Euell for Chris Perry who rifled a shot against the underside of the bar, which rebounded in off the shin of Andy Todd. Derby immediately responded by bringing on an extra striker, Nathan Ellington replacing Mile Sterjovski.

All of a sudden the confidence to play attacking, passing football had returned, and just minutes later Lallana set David McGoldrick free down the right. He got to the bye-line and pulled the ball back perfectly for Andrew Surman, but somehow he managed to connect with the ball with his heel rather than his instep, and skewed his shot a yard wide.

Saints had a let-off a minute later when an innocuous cross from Teale was somehow spilled by Davis but fortunately Rudi Skacel was first to react to the loose ball to poke it wide for a corner.

Paul Wotton was brought on in place of Surman in order to add a bit more bite to the midfield, and the sting appeared to be disappearing out of the game, which would have suited Saints completely. In response, Nigel Clough replaced the tiring Rob Hulse with Steve Davies, and just six minutes later he made a swift impact.

Martin Albrechtsen’s shot from distance was probably going out for a throw-in, but fell kindly for Davies in front of goal. He looked comfortably offside but the flag stayed down, and he poked the ball home for a barely-deserved equaliser.

With three minutes to go, Saints were caught on the break having committed players forward to get a winning goal. Davies outpaced Saeijs on the corner of the penalty area, turned inside and hit a curling shot which hit the inside of the post and rebounded to safety.

Saints were to ride their luck one more time before the end of the game. A hopeful punt into the area saw Ellington attempt to bring the ball down, but Saeijs seemed to be climbing all over him. Fortunately the ref waved the Derby appeals away.

After 4 minutes of added time, the full time whistle was blown on a very scrappy game.

A disastrous first eleven minutes were the deciding factor in today’s game at Turf Moor that saw a brave but ultimately fruitless fightback in the second half. Goals from Rudi Skacel and Andrew Surman weren’t enough to rectify the three goals conceded early on as Chris Perry scored an own goal and Joey Gudjohnsson added a brace for high-flying Burnley.

My view of the action.

Burnley made their intentions known as early as the second minute, with Joey Gudjonsson playing in Martin Paterson, who shrugged off Chris Perry and saw his fierce effort come off the underside of the bar. A let off for now.

Wright-Phillips saw his cross for the visitors cleared by Caldwell as Jason Euell, returning to the team, lurked in the box. But not content with conceding two early goals – as they did on Monday away at Crystal palace, Saints decided to go one better, in a mad spell that saw us three goals down after just 11 minutes.

Wade Elliot’s cross from the right flank appeared to lack much danger, but CHRIS PERRY stuck out a foot, which was enough to divert the ball for an own goal into the far corner, past the despairing dive of Kelvin Davis.

And after making a superb low save from Robbie Blake’s sweeping free kick, Davis would turn to villain as he dropped Steven Caldwell’s header from the resulting corner perfectly onto the head of JOEY GUDJONSSON who steered the ball home from close range and past David McGoldrick on the line.

Further desolation ensued, when more slack defending allowed Paterson to waltz down the left and as he knocked the ball past Perry, Elliot covered his team-mate and crossed low for JOEY GUDJONSSON who ran into the box unchallenged and fired home for his second and Burnley’s third.

The game did start to settle down, but Saints didn’t look as though they’d cut the deficit, as chances continued to come the home side’s way. First Chris McCann’s low effort was parried straight to Paterson who somehow hit the post with Davis very much beaten, before Chris Eagles forced the Southampton number one into a smart low save.

The half drew to a close with Burnley playing at walking pace and Southampton looking very much dejected, although they could have got an important goal when David McGoldrick headed at goal from Surman’s free kick, but his effort sailed just wide.

Half Time: Burnley 3-0 Southampton

After getting berated by some fans as they left the pitch for half time, the Southampton players came out into the second half with a point to prove and almost reduced the three goal margin, when Wright-Phillips cut in from the right and laid off for McGoldrick to shoot, but he saw his shot tipped over the bar.

But they did get a goal and suggested a fight back was on the cards, when a corner was scrambled around the box, but Euell freed the ball to RUDI SKACEL on the edge of the box who lashed home a fine goal.

And Saints could have had another goal in quick succession, when Jason Euell’s looping header was clawed off the line by Jensen. Burnley had an equally decent headed opportunity when McCann headed over when unmarked from a corner, but Saints were starting to dream of a remarkable comeback, when they pulled it back to 3-2…

Wright-Phillips took a quick throw in and Euell skipped past his man, before threading a perfect ball through to ANDREW SURMAN, who took the ball in his stride and fired across Jensen with a crisp low shot.

But Burnley could have killed off the game, when Davis punched a corner clear into the path of Robbie Blake, who had the goal at his mercy, but saw his shot deflected o ver. And as the Saints were losing their momentum, Burnley should have killed off the game when substitute Steven Thompson shot straight at Davis from just a couple of yards out and the saints were to run out of time.

Full time: Burnley 3-2 Southampton

Poor, poor defending set us up for another uphill battle and it was a bit of a joke that we conceded three goals in the first 11 minutes, after we had conceded two early goals on Monday. Poortvliet said we would attempt to start games better, but we went and started even worse, which was some feat.

Sure, we did threaten a comeback and the second half was a little better, but it looked better on paper, than it actually was. In truth, we played well for about 10 minutes over the 90, which isn’t good enough.

And further still, we could have conceded a couple more in the second half, after we should have been about 6-0 down at half time. I’m sure that we can get the defensive formula right though, as we showed a few weeks back that we could be solid defensively and the personnel haven’t changed in this area.

Upfront we still look mightily weak though and had to rely on goals from midfielders. We do however look more threatening with Jason Euell in the team and he should be considered as a definite starter.

Burnley did play well, but their goals were a little gifted. Upfront Martin Paterson gave us the run around, showing good energy to run the flanks, he also showed creativity and should have scored at least two. In midfield, they passed it around well and always had runners and their hard work probably deserved the luck that they got.

We need to forget about the past week and look forward to our home tie against Nottingham Forest next week, as it is vitally important that not only do we win our home games, but we win against the teams that are around us at the bottom of the table.

Saints face a tough trip to the Madejski to play free-scoring Reading tomorrow afternoon. The Royals have only dropped two points at home so far this season (a goalless draw against QPR recently) and are averaging 3 goals per game. Not a statistic you really want to be seeing, but one that we’re going to have to overcome if we’re to get anything out of the game.

Saints have only played one competitive game at the Madejski Stadium since it opened in 1998, which was a 2-0 defeat that came as part of Reading’s incredible 33-match unbeaten run to earn them promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history in 2006. We’ve also played a number of pre-season friendlies there, and Saints maintain an unbeaten record in those, but it’s competitive games that count, and we’ve lost on the last three trips to Berkshire - that match in 2006 and two cup upsets in the mid-90s. Overall, our record at Reading isn’t too shabby at all. From 19 league and cup games, we’ve won 6, drawn 5 and lost 8, although with the exception of the 2006 meeting, the two teams haven’t met in the league since 1960.

Reading boast the Championship’s leading scorer in Kevin Doyle. The Irishman has scored 14 goals, 11 of which have come on home soil. The Royals recently paid his former club Cork City an undisclosed sum in settlement of a sell-on clause in his contract in order to save themselves a bit of money in the long-term on the assumption that he will command a hefty transfer fee should they choose or be forced to sell him. Fellow Irishmen Stephen and Noel Hunt have been their other key contributors, weighing in with 5 and 6 goals respectively.

Reading manager Steve Coppell is expected to name an unchanged line-up from the 2-0 win at Sheffield United last week. Centre-back Andre Bikey is expected to have recovered from a knock which prevented him from playing for Cameroon this week.

Alex Pearce, who has already scored two goals for the Saints from centre-back, is ineligible to play against his parent club. Chris Perry will probably replace him. Olly Lancashire is also a doubt after being forced off against Wolves last week, with Paul Wotton his likely replacement if he’s ruled out. Michael Svensson is probably out of contention after being struck down with illness, as has Oscar Gobern.

Jason Euell is also definitely out as he begins a three-match ban after his appeal against the red card given to him last week was rejected. Jordan Robertson and Romain Gasmi are in contention to feature, and Bradley Wright-Phillips will probably get a chance after impressing as a substitute last week.

Saints will be backed by more than 3000 fans after Reading agreed to give us an extra allocation of tickets. The last chance for Saints fans to buy tickets at the normal rate of £23 for adults is at 3pm this afternoon. Any unsold tickets will be available from the Reading ticket office, but with a £4 increase on that price.

Saints go into tonight’s match against Norwich at St Mary’s in good spirits following Saturday’s 2-0 win at Doncaster. However, Norwich will be intent on spoiling the party in the knowledge that victory for them will almost certainly move them into the top half of the table, whereas a Saints win would see us leapfrog the Canaries and drag them into the mix at the wrong end.

So far this season, they’ve collected 10 points from 8 games, including two wins (against 10-man Plymouth and a last-minute winner against Sheffield United). They have kept just two clean sheets in those 8 games, both in their last two matches, compared to Saints’ three shutouts.

Former Arsenal striker Arturo Lupoli, currently on loan from Serie A side Fiorentina, is their top scorer with three league goals, so he’ll be the one to watch alongside a player who seems to always score against us, Jamie Cureton. Other players of interest are ex-Portsmouth captain Dejan Stefanovic and Gambian striker Oman Alieu Koroma, who is on loan from our “friends” down the road.

The head-to-head record between the two sides is fairly even, with Saints holding a 32-29 win advantage in league games (23 draws). 23 of those 32 league wins have come at home, with a 3 out of 4 win record since we moved to St Mary’s. Norwich’s only win at St Mary’s came last season when a Ched Evans goal on the stroke of half-time proved the difference, although on another day Saints would have scored 10. Stern John blazed a penalty over the bar after Gary Doherty handled and numerous other excellent chances were spurned to leave everyone wondering how we’d lost the game. We’ll need to be a lot more clinical tonight if we’re to get the three points.

As far as Saints are concerned, Stern John will miss out after picking up a hamstring injury early on in the win at Doncaster. Morgan Schneiderlin is a doubt after he hobbled off in the second half of that game. Tomas Pekhart is expected to start up front with Paul Wotton moving into the midfield holding role and Chris Perry filling the gap in the centre of defence that is strangely starting to look a bit more solid, at least as far as the goals against column is concerned, with two consecutive clean sheets.

Kevin Phillips unsurprisingly came back to haunt us as Saints were undone by a late goal at St Mary’s. Chris Perry’s header just before half-time had given us a deserved lead, but the lead didn’t last long after the break as Garry O’Connor profited from a defensive mix-up before Phillips’ winner.