Russell Martin: Saints boss says EFL Cup exit is "most disappointed" he's been since arrival
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Saints boss Russell Martin said they had too many players on the pitch who didn't stick to the game plan versus Gillingham
Southampton manager Russell Martin says their shock defeat in the EFL Cup is the "most disappointed" he has been since arriving at the club.
Championship side Saints lost 3-1 to League Two Gillingham in the first round of the competition on Tuesday.
"I'm frustrated and I'm disappointed," former Swansea boss Martin told BBC Radio Solent after the match.
"We had too many players who weren't brave enough or didn't want to play the way that we wanted and we paid for it."
Southampton conceded the first goal after only 11 minutes and were unable to find an equaliser before half-time.
Gillingham doubled their lead shortly after the break and added a third 15 minutes later to put the game out of reach.
Second half-substitute Carlos Alcaraz scored a consolation goal for Saints in the 89th minute but the celebrations had already begun around Priestfield Stadium.
"It is the most disappointed I've been in my six weeks of being here," said Martin.
"We have nine players on the pitch who played in the Premier League and I presume they still deem themselves to be Premier League level players - they have to be better than that."
'We have a big problem'
Southampton were semi-finalists in the competition last season before they were relegated from the Premier League.
The last time they were knocked out of the EFL Cup this early was when they lost to Peterborough during their 2007-08 Championship campaign.
The defeat by the Gills night was only Martin's second game in charge of Saints as he and his staff try to implement a new possession-based playing style.
"It's a big lesson for some of our guys" the 37-year-old said.
"You need to be all in and be a professional in the way you train and the way you play.
"We don't train one way to play another, we train the way we train and we work the way we work, so you can go on the pitch and deliver a certain level of performance.
"When you stick to the plan and make mistakes it's no problem, we will learn together and we will grow together. But when you don't follow and you want to do things your own way and then make mistakes we have a big problem.
"Too many of the lads wanted to do things there own way. If they continue to do that they won't be part of the journey and we probably had too many players on the pitch tonight who were thinking their future is elsewhere."
Martin added: "I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised by some players tonight but I haven't been.
"But I am responsible for that and I picked the team - Gillingham deserved to win."
