Saints boss Nigel Adkins shed light on his decision to drop Rickie Lambert to the substitutes' bench for the 3-2 defeat at Manchester City.

The striker was surprisingly left out of the starting lineup at the Etihad Stadium, with Adkins instead preferring to use Guly do Prado as his frontman.

But Lambert sprung off the bench in the second half, scoring within moments of coming on to make it 1-1.

"I would have thought he was upset because everyone wants to play," said Adkins.

"But I have to make decisions. We came up with a game plan and he was on the pitch to score when it mattered.

"We expected the opposition to have a fair bit of the ball, so instead of Rickie running round and being shattered, he was on the pitch, scoring a goal and being a threat."

Adkins also confirmed he expects more signings before the August 31 transfer deadline, although offered no update on the deal to get Gaston Ramirez to the club, amid reports the transfer is close to collapse.

"We have been linked with a few players," he said.

"I don't know if there are any more developments but there will be more players coming into the club before the transfer window shuts."