"I might have chinned him" - Neil Warnock makes Russell Martin, Southampton FC claim live on Sky Sports | OneFootball

Former Huddersfield Town manager and EFL legend Neil Warnock has advised Russell Martin to back his players to go again, even suggesting to take them out for a Chinese meal after Southampton’s humiliating defeat to Leicester City on Tuesday night.

The Saints were thrashed 5-0 by fellow promotion chasers Leicester, which has all but confirmed that Southampton will be playing in the play-offs next month.

Abdul Fatawu scored a hat-trick for the Foxes, whilst Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy also scored to put them five points clear of Ipswich Town in third with two games to go.

This has left the Saints six points off of the top two with two games left to play, and barring a miracle, they are set to play in the play-offs in the hopes of making an instant return to the Premier League after relegation last year.

Neil Warnock advises Russell Martin to take Southampton out for a Chinese

Speaking to Sky Sports last night following the game, Warnock said that rather than berating his players and giving them more training, he needs to take them out for a meal to keep the togetherness.

Warnock said: “Russell has got enough time now. You have picked a time when you don’t want to be interviewed when you’ve lost 5-0, and the questions he answered, I might have chinned him if he were talking to me there!

“I look at it and he’s come out and braved it, he knows they were terrible, he knows they were terrible! But he has got to brush himself down and he has got to stress to the players, we have had so many supporters tonight travel all this way, and paid good money and you have let them down so much, that we have got to repay these now by getting into the Premier League.

“They have had a great season, they had a bad start, and then they have had a great run in history I think, the number of undefeated games. So he has got to forget about all this, and take them for a Chinese tomorrow or something like that and have a good laugh, and get it out of their system.

“Never mind training, training is no good, they don’t want extra training. They just want to relax and remind each other of how good they have been.”

Southampton need to dust themselves off and prepare for the play-offs

After being battered at the King Power Stadium, Martin needs to start preparing his side for the play-offs.

Southampton have been pushing near the top of the division all season, but unfortunately for them, their result on Tuesday night has shattered any hope of an ambitious top-two finish.

Martin has done a great job in completely changing the philosophy at the club from a high-pressing side to playing a more possession-based style, After a poor start, his side then went on a massive unbeaten run that spanned 22 games, going from September and lasting until February.

This put the Saints back in the race for the automatics, but a run of just three wins from their last eight games has left them needing a lot of things to of their way if they are to make it now.

For the last two games of the season, Martin should look to rest some of his better players so they are fully fit for what is a crucial play-off campaign for them.