Southampton FC: Che Adams and Kyle Walker-Peters argue key flashpoint in Coventry City win | OneFootball

Southampton kept their faint automatic promotion hopes alive with a 2-1 win over Coventry City at St. Mary’s Stadium last night.

Southampton’s promotion push

Russell Martin’s side were always expected to be in the mix for a top two finish this season given the quality at his disposal, but they’ve had inconsistent periods in the campaign.

Heading into the fixture against the Sky Blues, Saints had failed to win in three, but they got back on track by edging past the play-off hopefuls.

The result leaves Southampton nine points behind Leeds, who occupy second place right now, although Ipswich could leapfrog them this evening.

However, Martin’s men do have two games in hand on the Whites, and a final day trip to Elland Road means they only need to get within two points of Leeds to potentially finish above them.

Che Adams and Kyle Walker-Peters debate first goal

It was an exciting start to the game on the south coast, as Haji Wright had the chance to put Coventry ahead from the penalty spot, but he slipped and hit the ball twice, with his effort missing the target anyway.

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However, even though it was a good effort, it required a big deflection to get past Coventry keeper Brad Collins, and it seemed as though the ball had gone in off Che Adams.

Despite the deflection, Walker-Peters was awarded the goal, at least for now, but Adams clearly thinks he should have been given the credit.

That’s after the striker took to social media to cheekily praise his teammate for an ‘unbelievable assist’. But, Walker-Peters wasn’t backing down, as he replied with ‘definitely MY goal’.

Pleasingly for Adams, he would get on the scoresheet anyway, as he scored what turned out to be the winner shortly after the opener, by forcing home from close range to put Saints two up at the time.

That was Adams’ 12th goal of the campaign, with the Scotland international the only other player along with Adam Armstrong to have hit double figures for the side in the league, with the ex-Blackburn on 20 for the season.

Jake Bidwell would pull one back for Coventry after the break, but Southampton stood firm late on to get a first victory in four games.

Southampton ready for hectic period

You can be sure that Martin and the Southampton fans don’t care one bit about who is given that first goal, as it was just about beating Coventry, and that’s exactly what the team did.

Now, they’re set for a hectic final month of the season, with the games coming thick and fast, and even though they have work to do, Saints must believe that a top two finish is possible.

To do that, they will probably have to win all their games, and they will be relying on Leeds and Ipswich to slip up, but the pair do have some difficult fixtures.

So, it will be interesting to see how it plays out, and if they do fall short, Southampton will fancy their chances in the play-offs as they seek an immediate return to the Premier League.