Every word Southampton's Martin said on Stoke, Kamaldeen and selection

What happens during the short turnaround in matches?

We will analyse the game, and we will show the lads what we feel we can learn from it. There will be so much good stuff to show them which will be nice and there will be things that we can improve ahead of tomorrow night.

We need to make sure that there is stuff that we can go through on the training pitch that is going to be important for tomorrow night. Albeit not too physically taxing because they must go again and have an awareness in the next 24 hours of what Stoke can bring, the threat they pose, and how we can navigate our way through that in the best way possible.

I think everyone will arrive in good spirits today. The mood was great last week. I hope we can continue that. We should be able to with the result at the weekend and hopefully it will take a bit of weight off everyone’s shoulders. It is going to be a big week for us. We have three games this week. We have got one out of the way with a good result and we need to build on that.

What pleased you most about the Leeds United performance?

The energy of the team. The aggression with and without the ball was a big improvement. The amount of learning the players have undertaken in the last week or two, we’ve had some stuff last week that we went through on the training pitch and in the analysis room.

I was speaking to a good friend of mine, and we had a bit of time in the car this morning. He was like ‘It was nice to see on Saturday that I can see the players eventually understand why they are doing certain things. I’ve been through it myself. When you do, it’s the best feeling on the pitch when you understand that and feel protective of it. You want to show everyone that you can really do it. I see your players going through that now.’

It was an interesting chat and I think for us we’ve been through these moments before, but I am proud of the way that the team has stuck together and been more together than ever in the last week or two. I am proud of them for that.

We have to learn again. We must improve again, and we must keep tweaking things to suit us. But I think the aggression in the team, the energy in the team, the mentality of the team was a big step up and that is where they need to live all the time.

How difficult is team selection with the busy schedule?

We must be realistic and accept that we are probably going to have to rotate a little bit over the next two games. We have guys who played on Saturday who haven’t started a game or played many minutes for a while.

With the medical team and the sports science team, we will do our very best to make them recover as quickly as possible. We have brilliant facilities here and brilliant staff. We will manage them the best way we can because of the way we want to play.

It is a lot of intensity on the players, in their minds and their legs. We are going to have to be aware of it but at the same time try and build on a positive weekend.

Could Kamaldeen be a difference-maker?

He has been great with us. Since he’s come back on the training pitch, I think he understands what we want from him now. He has clarity on what we expect on the pitch and what we expect off it in terms of how he is.

The first time I ever spoke to Kamaldeen when I first took this job was on the phone and I was really impressed by how intelligent he is and how much he thinks about the game. At that point, I am pretty sure that both of us didn’t expect him to be here. I’m grateful that he is, and we are lucky that he is.

As you saw on Saturday, he’s an incredible talent. I genuinely believe he can probably play wherever he wants at some point in his career if he puts everything that he has in the right place and in the right direction. It is up to us to help him do that, to help him understand the potential he has, and to help him understand what he needs to do consistently to play at the top level.

He has all the potential and all the attributes to do that. We need to make sure that he is a big player for us by keeping him fit, by making him really understand what is expected of him, and by turning him into the best teammate that he can possibly be.

On Saturday, he added so much value to the team going forward but also defensively. It’s the best he has been, so he needs to kick on from here now.

Pressure on being a club record signing?

I am not convinced that would faze Kamaldeen. He is a confident boy. He’s had an incredible upbringing and it’s a brilliant story, but he hasn’t played many games. With a big price tag comes a big expectation.

He had a few injury problems so he’s probably more frustrated than anything. He doesn’t have any issue with confidence or in his own ability. I think he fully believes that in a really nice way.

It is up to us to bring the best out of him now and to try and help him be the best he can be. The style really suits him. He has an incredible opportunity like some of the other guys to find the best versions of themselves. Hopefully, they take the opportunity.

On comparisons with Alex Neill?

I know Alex very well. I have been his captain and I really like Alex, I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him. I have never called him Alex, I have always called him gaffer, so this is the only time that I have called him Alex.

His mentality, his will to win, and the way he sets his team up, it is excellent detail. Having played against his teams a couple of times, I understand after playing in it how difficult it is to play against and they will take a huge amount of belief in their own big win on Saturday, having come back into the game to score late on to win.

He will be looking in the same way as we are to build on that and for them to kick on because they have had a difficult period, like us, so it will be an interesting game. It will be a different game from the one on Saturday. I am looking forward to it.

Obviously, Will (Smallbone) played for him last year so he understands Alex and how he works. We will be tapping into that as well. He will be focusing on his team, and we will be focusing on ours. We will see what happens.

Have you ever won on a Tuesday night in Stoke?

I am not sure that I have as a player. I think we drew there last year (as Swansea boss). We need to have a good week and hopefully, everyone feels more positive. The supporters were great. Having watched the goals back, hopefully, there is real evidence of the work that we are doing.

I was proud of that, and we need to keep building. It is not enough. We need to be better again and hopefully; we will be over these next two games.