Alex Chamberlain played down comparisons to Theo Walcott after his stunning cameo performance as Saints came from a goal down to defeat Oldham.

The 17-year-old was introduced on the right wing with 23 minutes remaining against Oldham and just six minutes later had fired home what proved to be the winner.

And he left the St Mary’s crowd thrilled with a breathtaking solo run from inside his own half deep into stoppage time that culminated with a brilliant shot that crashed against the post.

Chamberlain’s performance inevitably drew comparisons with Walcott but the down to earth youngster was not getting too carried away himself.

“Theo is a great player and with me playing out on the wing people are comparing me to him but for me before this year I’ve always played in central midfield so this wing role is fairly new to me,” he said.

“But I can run past players and I’ll do that from wherever I can, be it on the wing or in the centre of midfield.”

Chamberlain was glad to get back on the pitch having been given a bit of a break by Nigel Adkins after starting a run of games in a row.

“You’re going to get dropped in and out and that’s the manager’s choice. Obviously I want to start as many games as I can so I’ve just got to keep working hard and try and prove myself to get back into the team,” reflected Chamberlain.

“The boys are doing well though, we’ve got Adam and Punch on the wings, who are two great players, so it’s going to be hard for me to get a place back in the team.”

Chamberlain also paid tribute to the St Mary’s fans for sticking behind the team against Oldham.

“The supporters are part of the team as well, we need their support each week to give us the extra boost that we need to win games and I think that they played a massive role which helped us to do that.

“We have to get the fans to stay behind us here because we’ve got to have a positive mood within the camp. I think the boys have got that but we know that it’s going to be a hard season where we’ll keep trying to do as well as we can with a positive attitude and win every game, that’s all we can do.”