Every word Southampton's Martin said on Bednarek, Leicester and more

How has the last fortnight been coming through the wash-up of Sunderland and getting ready for Leicester?

It's been good. It was a really tough few days after Sunderland. It was hard to switch off and spend some time with the family.

Your head is always filled with so many ideas, I've watched that game back three or four times.

That was pretty painful, but you have to get through that pain to analyse and learn to try and get better. 

I think we are really clear on the issues we had at Sunderland, really clear. We have clarity in what we want and how we are going to try and do it.

It was really painful to lose in that way. But it would also be real madness to change everything and how we feel about the group.

We have got ten points from the first five games. If you continue to do that for the course of the season, you get promoted.

We had so many players leaving and seven players coming in. I hope the club doesn't have a transfer window as tough as that again really.

The whole thing was really fluid. Two or three players even before the Sunderland game were maybe going or maybe not.

Looking back, I probably should have changed the team based on all of that. I should have changed the approach after going 3-0 down. It's my fault, not the players.

I've learned a lot from it. I think we will be much better for it. You don't achieve anything in life or football without that, especially if you have a clear goal. 

I think it will enable us to grow. With pain, you can choose to feel sorry for yourself or you can grow from it. I think we will grow from it.

It's been a really interesting two weeks, but one I will be really grateful for at the end of it. Nobody wants to lose 5-0.

I really apologise to the people who travelled all the way up there. That wasn't us and it's not going to be us. We also understand why and that's not going to happen again.

We have obviously only had a few of the players for two days, that's been really interesting. The guys that have been here have approached it brilliantly.

We went and had a practice match down the road which was fantastic for a bit of learning and to get the players back on the pitch. 

In the two days that they've been back, we have hit them with a lot of information.

Unfortunately, we all had to relive the Sunderland stuff again together.

Everyone went away feeling the pain with their ego hurt a bit. Our pride was dented. To come back and go through it again is really important.

The international players will have gone away feeling that and it'll have been a good break for them to get away from that.

The guys who have been here as well have had a chance to refresh, but they've worked really hard as well. It's a balance.

We have used the two weeks as well as we can. We have a real opportunity to put that to bed, put it behind us and continue to do what they've been doing.

As I've said to you, we have to win while building. The first time we didn't do that, we lost in a bad way. It's so easy to overreact and to start changing things.

It's given us real clarity in what we need and what we want. Hopefully, the team will show that tomorrow.

From the outside it's two teams who play the same way coming up against each other, is that how you see it?

I think so. I don't know Enzo (Maresca), but I think if we sat down and had a chat about the game, I think we would probably believe in quite a few similar things.

I've been really impressed by them and I've really enjoyed watching them. They are early on in the process as well.

They had some pain just before the international break, losing at home. They will have felt that for sure. Both teams are going into it a little bit wounded.

They've had a lot of change as well and they've started really well. They are two points ahead of us so we have a chance to go above them.

We also have a chance to get back on track with what's important; the performance. I'm not just talking about the results. I think it makes for a really interesting game.

I hope, and I think, it will be a brilliant advert for Championship football. Both teams have a chance in front of the cameras to really show what they are about after a defeat. I think it's really exciting.

We are all expecting goals. Saints have won games narrowly and they've won games narrowly, how do you see it?

I don't think they are going to come and change their approach, we are certainly not going to do that.

We have to be better at a lot of things we did in the previous game. We have spoken about that and we have worked on that. I'm excited to see that go onto the pitch.

I don't think they are going to change their approach. I think the team that is the bravest with the ball, the team that shows the most intensity for each other, out of possession with the most aggression.

That will be the team that comes out on top. I think it will be a really high-quality game and a different challenge for us from what we have faced previously so far. 

I'm really looking forward to it. We needed a game after these two weeks and it happens to be Leicester. Three really big games for us this week, and this is just the start.

We have seen some lovely videos of Kamaldeen looking sharp - how has he come out of the transfer window? 

Kamaldeen was one of the players who probably thought he would end up in the Premier League or a top league somewhere because of all the interest in him.

No club came with the money needed to release Kamaldeen from here, and with all that and an injury to get from it brings difficulty for a young man.

He dealt with it really well, any frustration he has about still – which he probably does, there’s probably a few that were frustrated by the window and information they were given by people outside of the club.

If he has been frustrated then he’s used it well because he’s been amazing. He’s a seriously good player and now it’s about getting him fit enough to really impact games.

We want to keep him fit, I love watching him, he’s got so much talent. An incredible amount of talent.

Some of the stuff he does to other players makes me laugh. Some of the players roll their eyes in disbelief at some of the stuff he does.

We have to make sure he comes onto the pitch in a place where we can trust him, he trusts himself and he can trust us and that belief.

We’re getting close to that and he will be in the squad tomorrow which is positive for us, so I’m looking forward to seeing him on the pitch when he gets on there.

Jan Bednarek came off for Poland - how is he?

Janny B is going to be touch and go. It's nothing too serious, but we are hoping he can be involved tomorrow. We have a feeling he can be. 

Hopefully, he feels the same way. We will have to play it by ear. We have options there if he isn't ready. Taylor (Harwood-Bellis) is now in the building. He got through 90 minutes for England.

Ideally, he would have played a few less time minutes, but he is their captain and they want him on the pitch. Whether Jan makes it or not, we will be well prepared. 

You said you had a difficult transfer window. Do you want to expand on that?

Did I use the word difficult? I'm not convinced I did. I think we had a lot of chances that I don't think needs to be expanded on.

We had so many players leave and come in. That's going to be difficult at any time, let alone when a club gets relegated from the Premier League.

We lost a player or two that started the first game for us. We thought there might be a few more that were still here that were going.

I think it's really obvious that is going to be difficult to navigate. We tried to do that in the best way possible. I've tried to give every player here every bit of detail by having the idea that they would be here.

We have ended up keeping some players that we thought would be leaving, and we have lost some players who we had a small hope they might stay.

It is what is it. I understood the situation when I came here.

The squad also needed change. Performance wise it needed change. We had players here who were not really suited to how we want to play, who have now gone.

I really believe after a difficult six or seven weeks that we are now in a really good place with the squad. 

I am really pleased with it in terms of attitude, character and personality. The players that have been here have come together really nicely. They are really starting to look after each other.

In the second half against Sunderland, a few cracks started to show, that have been evident over the last however long. That won't happen again.

We have made sure we really understand what is important for us as a team and as a group. I think they agree on that.

We have learned a lot. I think we have navigated the change really well and we now sit here with 10 points.

Although we as a coaching staff haven't been happy with some of the performances, we are proud and pleased with a lot of the stuff we have seen.

There has been a big change to the culture and what we are asking them to do. When you take that into account, we are really pleased with the amount of points we have.

We have so much we want to get into the players, but we don't want to overload them at once. It's about finding that balance. Hopefully, we will start doing that.

Do you see a lot of yourself in Taylor Harwood-Bellis? 

He is much better than me. Much better. Personality-wise, yes I do. I think he's a maximiser in what he's got. I think he is a warrior and is much braver than I was with and without the ball. 

He really backs himself. He has got brilliant pedigree to have played so many games at such a young age.

I think we can really help him and I think he can help us a lot. I think it was a brilliant bit of business to get him. I think we have done brilliant business this summer.

I am excited to work with him. He hasn't played yet. He played in a brilliant Burnley team last season, which had similarities to its concepts, but it's all different.

Leicester are similar to us, but they are different. Taylor has only had a few days with us. He had a day with us before the Sunderland game and he's been here for two days since because he has been away with England.

If he needs to play, he will be ready and he will be brave. That will be no problem.

Will he improve the defending aspect?

I don't think we would have signed him if he didn't.

From watching his stuff at Burnley, he has an incredible mentality to not let someone get the better of him, to defend his goal, to put his body on the line and to be aggressive.

Against Sunderland two of the goals came from outside the box, one was from a counter-attack from a corner. We don't get out to the ball quick enough on any of them.

He will add some voice to the defence as well. He will make sure people in front of him are getting out to the ball, otherwise, he has to defend more.

He is really demanding of other people around him. We have seen that already. For someone so young, that's incredible and why he is captain of England's Under-21s.

He will be really big for us and it's up to us to make sure we keep getting the most out of him.

Another addition is Ryan Fraser. He adds another string to the bow in attack, doesn't he?

Ryan is really technically gifted. If you don't watch any of the teams he has played for regularly, you maybe don't see that.

Having played with him I know how gifted and proficient he is. He has also brought a real desire and hunger to play and show people how good he is.

He hasn't played for a while, he is another one that we have brought in that needs to be brought up to speed. 

But his energy has been amazing since he came in. He is a really good lad, and I said that when we brought him in.

If I had any worries about his character, he wouldn't be here. He has been great and really good for the group.

We needed that. We have quite a quiet group. We need to bring the life out of the players again after the disappointment of last season. New guys bring that energy, which will allow the players to show the best version of themselves again.

We have done it for moments on the pitch, but we haven't been able to sustain it on the pitch.

The season is so stop-start - does that make you set goals for every month of the season?

We have a way of analysing the progress that fits quite nicely into the way that the international games come about.

It is what it is. Ideally, you would have more time to work with the players on the grass. You get used to it in the Championship.

By the time they are done, you are only about a third of the way through the season. It's still so early.

We now have five games until the break. The break is going to be important for us.

It's a really big month. If you look at the games we are playing, they are all against teams who are expected to be there or thereabouts.

I think it will be a great test for us to see where we are at and how much work we have to do.

As a block of games, I am really excited about it and I think the players are. We have a lot of energy after the last two weeks as you can probably tell. We are looking forward to it.