SAINTS were missing a number of key players yesterday, but the absence of Jose Fonte was perhaps felt the most.

The kingpin of Nigel Adkins’ defence was forced to watch the 2-0 defeat against Brentford from the sidelines, as he served a one-match ban for picking up his fifth booking of the season.

Without him, Saints struggled to cope with the Bees’ front two of Gary Alexander and Charlie MacDonald.

The hosts were edgy at the back, not as dominant in the air as usual and at times just downright disorganised.

The defending for Brentford’s second goal was particularly poor, as they allowed a straight free-kick to be flicked on, before leaving MacDonald free to stab home from close range.

It was a surprising display, given that the back four had coped pretty well on the odd occasion this season when they have had to do without Fonte.

One of the matches he missed earlier in the campaign was the trip to Sheffield Wednesday, when Radhi Jaidi and Dan Seaborne combined at the heart of defence to keep a clean sheet in a 1-0 win.

But Saints missed the steady hand of the influential Fonte on their defensive rudder yesterday.

They could also have done with his quality of distribution.

Too often the ball was given away, or at other times aimlessly pumped forwards – a particularly pointless play when the tiny Alex Chamberlain and David Connolly were up front in the last ten minutes.

That is not the style of an Adkins’ side, which is known for its crisp passing and flowing movement.

So it was no surprise the manager was left frustrated with his team’s display.

Adkins also had to do without the injured Frazer Richardson, Richard Chaplow and Lee Barnard, who would all have helped improve the side yesterday.

And it is not fair to heap all the blame on the defence, because there were plenty of problems from goalkeeper Kelvin Davis through to the strikers.

But the loss of Fonte meant Saints were building from a far less stable base and Adkins will be delighted to be able to welcome him back for next week’s trip to Walsall.