"A stroke of genius" - Russell Martin surprise selection decision praised by Carlton Palmer in Southampton win over Leeds | OneFootball

Southampton returned to winning ways following a 3-1 win over Leeds United at St. Mary's on Saturday.

After a strong start to the Saints' first Championship season in over a decade, they had lost four on the bounce heading into a clash with an in-form Leeds side.

The Whites were unbeaten in six league games, having not conceded in four games, either. They were strong favourites heading into the game between two recently relegated sides.

They got off to a flying start after just a couple of minutes when Adam Armstrong clipped in perfectly from Kyle Walker-Peters' reverse pass.

Leeds were two down when Kamaldeen Sulemana hit the byline and waited for Will Smallbone to arrive to deliver a cut-back, which the midfielder slotted home off the far post.

A stunned Leeds side found themselves three down by half-time when the Southampton striker, Armstrong, added his second as he twisted and turned inside the box before finding the far corner.

Leeds hit back when centre-back Pascal Struijk finished like a centre-forward after plucking the ball out of the air and swivelling to fire home. It would only prove to be a mere consolation in the end, though.

It leaves Leeds ninth and Southampton tenth on the same number of points heading into another midweek round of fixtures against QPR and Stoke City respectively.

What are the pundits saying following Southampton's 3-1 win over Leeds?

Offering his reaction to the game, former England international midfielder Carlton Palmer feels as though Russell Martin had a stroke of genius in how he deployed attacking-midfielder Carlos Alcaraz for the game.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, he said: "Russell Martin made an inspired move playing Alcaraz, restoring him to the team as a number-nine against Leeds.

"Martin explained in the press-conference after the game that Alcaraz trained really well last week and he felt he had to accommodate him in the side somehow.

"It was a stroke of genius, knowing that Alcaraz is an intelligent footballer, knowing that he's an attacking player and deploying him further up the park as a centre-forward. "Defensively, he's not that strong, but he didn't expose them. It allows him to play to his strengths and get into positions to hurt the opposition higher up the pitch.

"It's exactly what he did and it was a very good call by the Southampton manager to get them back to winning ways."

What's the verdict on Russell Martin's Southampton tactics?

Southampton needed something to fix their slump. They had been struggling to build up the ball from the back without making individual mistakes, but Leeds' passive press proved too easy to play through and they were able to consistently get the ball into danger areas.

Martin's side dictated the tempo and chances, and Alcaraz's movement helped open up the spaces for Kamaldeen Sulemana and Adam Armstrong to get in behind consistently.

Although Leeds improved after half-time, the game was won. Perhaps a false-nine or out-and-out centre-forward role is something we could see more of from Alcaraz going forwards, given how he opened the game up. He is a quality operator, in terms of his pure technical ability, and deserves more game time than he has been afforded, be that in central-midfield or the attacking line.