Southampton's Martin accepts importance of Wolves fixture

The St Mary's side visit Molineux looking to build on their first win against Everton last time out, in which Adam Armstrong scored the contest's only goal.

The three points lifted Saints from the foot of the Premier League table, leapfrogging Gary O'Neil's winless Wolves after 10 fixtures this season. 

Wolves will see the visit of Saints as a chance to win a league game for the first time since April but Martin is not being drawn into further narratives.

"They all are big matches, honestly. We're going to be fighting, I hope, for something all season and to be in a better position than where we are now," he said. 

Wolves have scored double Southampton's goals in the Premier League this season (Image: Nick Potts)

"But we have one win, so it's not like we've done it, we've cracked it. We've got one win. We need to kick on, we need to improve.

"We need to be better in every department because it's tough but I feel like the lads have drawn a line in the sand the last couple of weeks.

"They have said, 'No, we are going to go and attack this, we're going to beat this team and we're going to try and do it no matter what'.

"They did at Man City and were brilliant in large parts. They did against Everton and got the reward. I hope it's justification for them to stick with it and keep the belief.

"Also for the fans. I'm really grateful to them. They've been amazing, even outside of the club when I'm walking around and stuff. The support has been brilliant." 

Despite Wolves being in the top half for goals scored this season with 14, they have conceded 27 in 10 matches and have the league-worst goal difference of -13.

Wolves boss O’Neil insists his side are “ready to fight” whether the fans are behind them or not following Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.

Gary O'Neil was appointed Wolves head coach in August 2023 (Image: PA)

After Trevoh Chalobah opened the scoring for Palace, O’Neil wasted no time in switching things up in an attempt to chase a much-needed result.

The home fans took a dislike to midfielder Tommy Doyle being substituted as skipper Mario Lemina entered the fray as part of a triple change.

Chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” belted down from the stands towards O’Neil but the substitutes paid dividends as Lemina and Guedes played their part in helping Wolves take the lead before Marc Guehi equalised.

O'Neil said: “An unbelievable response for the stadium to feel the way it did to see a team respond and climb back on top takes a lot of doing.

“I’m confident in this group they will always give something whether the stadium is with us or turn on us. We’re ready to fight and scrap no matter what.

“It’s not the time for me to speak overly, honestly about the bigger situation because whatever I say will be seen as excuses.

"I’m not interested because we need to win football matches. We get back to work now on the way home to make sure we get ready for Southampton.”