Saints march into the Premier League after seeing off lacklustre Leeds at Wembley
Southampton are back in the Premier League after Adam Armstrong scored the only goal at Wembley to secure a 1-0 win over Leeds in Sunday’s Championship play-off final.
Armstrong slotted home a clinical finish on 24 minutes, then Russell Martin’s Saints kept Daniel Farke’s Leeds United troops at bay with relative ease to secure a return to England’s top tier.
Martin was seen as a leftfield appointment when he slid into the St Mary’s hot-seat - and he praised the Southampton board for believing in him, telling Sky Sports: "I feel emotional and overwhelmed by the love and support I've had over the past nine or 10 months especially in the tougher times.
"The support from the board, I had to validate their decision and justify being handed the chance.
"I'm so pleased for them because it wasn't an exciting appointment. I'd finished 10th with Swansea, had a very clear way of doing things at MK Dons so for them to take me on was really brave.
"The team have been so brave and I'm grateful and proud of them.
"I did enjoy some of it. I enjoyed watching the players grow and I absolutely love that group of players. What we've asked them to do is not easy."
Lots of angry Leeds fans called for boss Daniel Farke to be sacked in the aftermath of yet more play-off final misery for the West Yorkshire club.
But the former Norwich boss told Sky Sports: "It's football. In a final, only one team can win so they were able to be effective and defended really well during the whole game.
"We had more possession, more shots, more expected goals but they defended us really well. We have to congratulate them and wish them all the best in the Premier League next season.
"We started the game on the front foot and had many good situations in the final third but we weren't always precise with our passing.
"At this level, when you switch off once you get punished. Armstrong was very effective. We tried everything in the second half with James' shot hitting the crossbar. Sometimes, it's not meant to be.
"It was a difficult day for us and a day of suffering but that's football. You have to get on with it, rest and use the disappointment as motivation for next season."
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