Nigel Adkins admitted he was unhappy with the way his Saints side played despite taking three points against Carlisle.

A bumper crowd of over 25,000 turned out at St Mary’s to see Saints take on the Cumbrians courtesy of the ticket sales being linked to the Manchester United FA Cup tie.

But many went home feeling a little flat as Saints only just edged a relatively drab 1-0 win.

The result was without doubt an important one being a home game sandwiched in the middle of four on the road but Adkins was still left wondering quite why his team had struggled.

He said: “We have set standards at this football club and the players were made well aware of that at half time and full time.

“Our principles are to get the ball and pass it quickly and we’ve not done that.

“The players are well aware of the standards that we’re looking for.

“The positives are getting the three points but I expect us to play in a certain manner and a certain style.

“We do it religiously in training, all the time we’re on about passing the ball and we haven’t passed the football anywhere near as quick as I would have liked.”

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