Southampton boss Russell Martin wants a new unbeaten run

Russell Martin holds his head in his hands, but the last time he saw Southampton lose, they responded with an unbeaten club record of 25 matches.

Russell Martin says the best response to the end of Southampton's 25-match unbeaten run, is to start another one.

Tuesday's 3-1 loss at Bristol City was Saints' first in any competition since 23 September at Middlesbrough.

Martin's men slipped to third in the Championship and he told BBC Radio Solent he was "disappointed, gutted and frustrated", though proud of the run.

"It was going to come to an end at some point, now we have to make sure it's a small bump in the road," he added.

The streak broke a club record set more than a century earlier, but Martin revealed: "It ended the run, of course, but I've said to the players I am so proud of them and I have got so much love for them.

"It wasn't far way from being a really good performance. We had two much bigger chances than they did before they scored, and if one goes in it's a completely different game.

"We were nearly there in so much of the game but not enough. I thought at half-time we'd go on to win it, but we didn't do the things we needed to do."

Martin praised the Saints supporters for their backing at Ashton Gate after some had booed the team when they were behind at home to Huddersfield on Saturday - a game they came back to win 5-3.

He said: "I'm really annoyed at conceding three goals in two games in a row because we have looked so solid and so strong, and our defensive record has been so good over the last however long.

"I love these players, and I love how the supporters were tonight. We'll be fine."

At the time, the defeat at The Riverside in September was a fourth straight and Martin recalled: "I said at the start of the season that how we deal with setbacks and disappointment will define what we do.

"We did that incredibly well last time, we went five months unbeaten and 25 games, so we need to react as well as we did previously.

"We will not change one bit, the process will be the same as when we lost four straight games and when we went 25 unbeaten. We'll learn from this and make sure we improve for Friday [when they visit West Brom]."