Martin on suspensions, trusting his squad and 'incredible' Marescapublished at 15:44 2 December
Southampton boss Russell Martin has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Premier League visit of Chelsea (19:30 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Martin said he is "hopeful" striker Paul Onuachu will be fit for the visit of the Blues, while Jan Bednarek will be in the squad "all being well".
On Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Flynn Downes and Tyler Dibling being suspended: "We are probably without our five most consistent players so we have to tweak and adapt. Am I kicking myself for playing three of our best players and getting a point away at Brighton? Absolutely not."
Martin was happy with Downes' performance in Friday's 1-1 draw at Brighton: "His frustration of being suspended has overtaken his feeling for scoring. It was one of his best performances for us."
He believes players are ready to step in: "Ryan Manning coming in from being not even on the bench and doing really well is an example. We have a big squad but we knew all season we'd need everyone. You can go from being not on the bench to starting and that's it. We have trust in the players coming in and trust in the shape because they have done it before."
On the challenge posed by Enzo Maresca's Chelsea: "He he has done a great job and I am really pleased a club like Chelsea has recognised what he did in the Championship because it was incredible. His players are really starting to click into gear and get into flow."
When asked about PGMOL after his side's controversial disallowed goal against the Seagulls: "It's probably a bit harder than it needs to be. Some stuff gets left on field because they know they have VAR, but then on Friday the process means it doesn't get corrected by VAR. But I have trust and faith in Howard Webb to hold the right people to account."
Listen to Martin's comments about VAR and PGMOL here
Listen to commentary of Southampton v Chelsea live on the BBC Sport website on Wednesday
Follow all of Monday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news