Every word Southampton manager Martin said ahead of Preston

A week is a long time in football - it's certainly been a big seven days in the Championship. Have you twisted and turned much in that time over how you're viewing everything?

RM: No, I don't think so. One game at a time, focus on us, focus on how we can improve. It's been a weird feeling, like I said to you, we've lost one game in seven.

That was Ipswich and a we played really, really well in. But we had two draws either side of that that were frustrating.

I think we've gone back to being really hard to beat and really hard to play against, and we need to continue that.

There's lots of stuff we need to improve on on Saturday, but we were the best team, and we deserved to win, in my opinion.

I'm really pleased with the guys, the character they dug in and showed, and we're going to have to show that in abundance over the next five games.

But it's all about tomorrow now, and we need to take care of that. It's really that simple.

You're on the right trajectory again but this isn't the limit for your players?

RM: No, I think the one game we lost was the best we played in this run.

So I think there's room for growth, there's room for improvement tomorrow from Saturday and then it'll be the same again from Tuesday to Saturday. 

We'll continue to focus on the process, the way that we work, as we have done all season.

I think there's lots for the guys to be really happy with on Saturday, but also lots for us to understand that we need to do a lot better.

Usually, this group responds in a really brilliant way to the stuff that we try and help them with and hopefully it'll be the same again.

You talked in recent weeks about not over-complicating things and you went unchanged on Saturday, can you do that again? 

RM: There were some tired bodies and tired minds, and also the emotion of the game.

I was exhausted on Sunday, letting them know what the players were from that, the emotion we all felt and how it happened.

We have a brilliant group of players as well so it's up to us to use the quality of the squad, but also determine which are the best players for this game.

The players for the last two games have done brilliantly so we'll wait and see tomorrow, see how they feel, see what we feel.

Whatever team we put out, we will be confident that it's one that can win, because it's another tough challenge for us.

Every game we'll treat separately and see how it comes.

Your old club Norwich scored a massive late goal at Deepdale, a bit of a gut punch for Preston, are they in last chance saloon?  

RM: Yeah, I think we spoke about that this morning. I don't know what their approach will be.

Whether they feel it's too much for them to get into the playoffs now or if they feel they might as well just completely throw everything at it and have a go.

I'm pretty sure it'll be that because of the mentality of their group and how hard they work. And they've had another really good season.

But as I said, it's about us and our approach. We're chasing something ourselves, and something so big and it's so important. The players need to show that on the pitch.

What's the biggest learning from Watford?

RM: There are lots of things that happened on Saturday that then mean we don't go on and score three or four. So it's about that, really.

It's about the players understanding that and why that happens. But also, one of the biggest learnings is this team that never gives up.

They're fighting so hard for each other, they're running so hard for each other, and we're going to need that.

Can you let the players off the leash or do you have to have some control in that sort of way that they need to think?

RM: They have to feel everything on the pitch but also they have to understand and manage the state of the game at times.

We must make sure that we're playing the game that we want to play as much as we possibly can. On Saturday that probably was a bit too transitional at times.

So that is about taking the temperature out of the game or adding to the temperature of the game, depending on what it needs.

I feel we have ways of doing that and managing that and reminding the players about that, and involving them as part of the process.

I think, on the whole, they do it brilliantly, because we're trying to get them to do the hardest thing in the world, I think.

Which is to dominate the ball and dominate as much of the game as possible. To win it back as quickly as we possibly can. When we don't have it, trying to do both sides of the game.

It's not easy. So I'll always be grateful for what they're doing. And some of the stuff we see on the pitch.

Because it's incredibly tough but we really believe in that, and we will always strive to be that team and do it in that way.

If something is good in the first minute, if it's the right way to do it in the first minute, it's the right way to do it in the 99th minute.

In my opinion, it's why we win the game because actually when we went 2-2, we played more like us than we did for the rest of the game.

The first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes, we were more us and we scored in both of those periods.

For me, it's not a coincidence. So, we have to be the team we want to be all the time and that's the challenge. That is not easy. It's a brilliant challenge. 

Has it been nice seeing what we wanted when we spoke a week ago about the relationship between the fans, the stadium and the players?

RM: It's going to be really important. It's going to be so important.

And also, I think an acceptance that there are going to be a few scary moments in the game. I think Flynn said it after the game, better than I could.

We're at a point now with five games, the style of the team is not going to change so, we need to be better and we need to do better.

But to try and stick with it as much as we possibly can because the players will need that help at some point.

And the fans have been incredible since we've come in. The way they've received us. Even a few moments on Saturday, I always feel like it's a real minority.

And then the majority take over and really pushed the team on at 2-2. It was so easy at that point for it to be really difficult, the energy in the stadium.

But actually, the fans were great and they got so behind the team. I love the connection between the supporters and the team and how that's grown.

The moments like Saturday, the last second, hopefully that helps it even further, but we are going to need them.

We've had so many coaches come in and say, well, the stadium, the atmosphere, how different it is now coming here to when we've been before.

And that's a huge compliment to the supporters and to the players for what they've done, so, we have to keep growing that and keep building that.

Now more than ever, the players need them. The players need the supporters in the really good times and the tough moments as well.