Every word Southampton manager Martin said ahead of Watford

What did you see on Tuesday that you liked and that you didn't see at Blackburn?

RM: I think really simple and really clear. I think it's everything we look for before the game.

It's the stuff we showed the guys after and the stuff we re-emphasised again this morning and it was about energy, running, playing and moving - Blackburn I hope was a one-off.

It was the first game in a very, very, very long time that we've just not seen that really. So Ipswich wasn't that. It wasn't a case of running.

Middlesbrough wasn't a case of running. There were some fine details. We didn't finish enough of our chances and we conceded a poor goal but it was never about running.

Blackburn was and I don't ever want to see that again.

What do you think of Watford under Tom Cleverley? 

RM: He's done a brilliant job. I've been in his position, going from player to manager albeit I think he's interim manager at the moment.

I really enjoyed their performance on Wednesday. I thought they were good. I watched the game. They played really free with the ball and a lot of energy about it.

There was a lot to like about their performance and you can see they're really playing for Tom.

They look like they're enjoying themselves. I think they have a bit of freedom with their position in the table as well.

I know people say there's not much to play for but actually teams can be really dangerous when it's like that because they play a bit more relaxed. 

Maybe they can be a bit braver than they might be at certain times. I think he's doing a great job and I hope he's enjoying it.

It looks like the players are enjoying it and they looked really up for the fight on Wednesday night against a team who were playing to go top of the league.

The fight they put in, the willingness to run for each other. I'm pretty sure he saw a lot that he liked and I'm sure they feel they can build on it but we're at home.

We just had a great performance and a really good result.

It's about us and making the game into the one that we want it to be regardless of who we play and at that stage of the season as well.

We're really aware of what they have. They have a lot of athleticism. We're always aware of what the opposition have. 

We're also aware of what's really important for us in this game and the players are aware of that. It's the most important bit.

Can you take anything from playing them three times this season? 

RM: I don't think it matters a jot and also the context of the season now, where we are.

I think it's a very, very different game to the three previous ones and we've had one really good result and two frustrating ones against.

It's going to be a very, very tough game. We know that. They all are at this stage of the season. Ipswich found that on Wednesday against Watford.

There's still lots to go on but we need to just focus on ourselves and make sure that we do our job well and we do it right to feel good about the performance and what we are putting on the pitch.

Have you got some selection headaches - in a good way - back again?

RM: Yeah. I think every one of the players on the bench and Ryan Manning not on the bench on Tuesday, all of them feel they could play and they should be playing.

So it's a brilliant problem but it's not easy as well to give the lads something really brilliant when they're playing and then to be the guys to take that away from them.

It's part of the job and we have a really brilliant group of players and everyone is going to contribute between now and the season.

I'm convinced of that. I think that's been the case all season and also whether you're out of the squad, you're not far away still.

Shea Charles proved that he was out of the squad and he comes on and it may look a bit different tomorrow. It may not. We shall see.

You've worked with Ryan Manning for a long time, has it been difficult to leave him out? 

RM: I have a lot of love and affection for Ryan and he's had some brilliant games this season.

Some that he'll not have reached the level that he wants to but it was just a tactical thing to have as many attacking players on the bench as possible.

With the output that Flynn's put out in the last few games to have Shea Charles ready on the bench especially if we were hanging on to a lead. So, yeah, that's all come into it.

Ryan might be back in tomorrow. He might play tomorrow. He might be on the bench. You're never too far away and there's never a big falling out.

In the same way that Stu (Armstrong) and Janny (Bednarek) weren't happy to be on. Stu obviously just came back from concussion as a protocol but still not happy to not be playing.

Same with Jan. He had a knock but he felt he could play. So you never want these players to not be happy not playing.

Hopefully, with the relationship we have and the honesty you have with each other they respect it whether they like it or not and then they're there to help their teammates.

That's half of your skill isn't it? Having to pick the players that are on it? 

RM: Yeah, I think so and when we make changes we've done it to what we feel is the best for the team.

I'm not sure how many players play 46 games every single minute anymore with the schedule how it is.

Also, Ryan's an international player so he doesn't get any breaks during internationals. I think he's had a really solid first season here at the club. I think he's helped us.

He was in a position where we needed some help and he'll help us between now and the end of the season I'm sure.

Just finally, any injuries that have popped up since Tuesday?

RM: No, everyone's good. Everyone's really, really good and Juan (Larios) and Ross (Stewart) training bits and bobs as well and stepping in.

Hopefully, Ross in particular will impact it at some point and Juan will just need to get really ready to be fit and firing for pre-season and to help us over a bit of a longer term.