Brentford 1 Southampton 1

A trip to Wembley in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy would be very nice.

Going as far as possible in the FA Cup is very admirable as well.

But, in amongst all the hype and buzz of that possible visit to the home of football and the draw to face Pompey, the league has got a little lost.

And yet that remains the top priority.

Saints are an ambitious club, they have thrown money at trying to get success.

They want to be in the Premier League as quickly as possible.

Yet the cup progress is looking like making that an ever bigger ask.

Saints looked tired in midfield against Brentford, no doubt as a result of a terrific win over Ipswich in the FA Cup.

Things get no easier as the fixture chaos caused by cup successes kicks in.

If you want to be brutal, Saints could have done with getting knocked out of the FA Cup a few rounds ago.

That will not be a popular view in light of their most recent draw, but, in the long term beyond just this season, it’s the truth.

The way it is going the cups will take on added importance, because Saints are edging closer to a point where the play-offs are just going to be too far away.

It is now 13 points with 20 games left and could be more depending on Huddersfield’s game in hand and, while victories have come in the cups, in the league Saints have stuttered.

The last four away games were all against promotion challengers.

Saints have lost two and drawn two which with their minus ten start is not really enough.

They have beaten just one team in the top ten in a League One game all campaign.

This cup success has played it’s part in that. It’s just such a tough balancing act for Alan Pardew, you can only feel for him.

Saints fought for all they were worth from the first whistle at Brentford.

They harried and closed down the Bees, never gave them a second’s rest on the ball and matched their height and power.

Pardew’s side were not afraid to mix up their play, going direct when necessary on a poor pitch.

Brentford weren’t about to give an inch either which made for a great game.

It wasn’t a match for the purists who want to see slick passing football.

But for League One blood, guts, commitment and action you really couldn’t fault it.

After Michail Antonio’s early lob had gone wide, Saints got their goal on just four minutes.

A throw in down the left resulted in Rickie Lambert controlling and lifting it into the path of Lloyd James.

From just inside the area the on running midfielder needed no second invitation to have a crack and caught his half volley right on the laces to smash it into the top corner, leaving the keeper helpless.

Antonio came close to doubling the lead on 12 minutes but fired just wide before Brentford had their first opening three minutes later, Charlie MacDonald steering wide at the near post after a good cross from Ryan Dickson.

That rather typified much of the half – things were very even apart from in the final third where Saints just had a little extra quality in attack and a little extra composure in defence.

Adam Lallana tried his luck with a speculative effort from 25 yards but was so unlucky to see it come back off the bar before Antonio extended Wojciech Szczesny into a near post save from a drilled low effort.

Kelvin Davis had his first save to make just before half time when Kevin O’Connor controlled and volleyed from 20 yards but the Saints keeper got down smartly to his left to turn it wide.

The second half saw Davis the busier keeper – but only after Saints missed a great opportunities to give themselves a cushion.

Five minutes after the restart Lallana’s terrific long pass picked out the run of Lee Barnard.

He did everything right with a good touch to bring it under control and then beating a man, but when he had only the keeper to beat he put his shot wide.

Brentford were determined to capitalise on their good fortune and came agonisingly close three times in the space of a minute.

The first saw MacDonald get an effort on target from an acute angle, as the ball dropped over his shoulder. Davis kept it out.

The ball found its way back to Myles Weston who smashed a fierce effort goalwards that Davis acrobatically tipped over the bar.

From the corner Davis was beaten by the shot of Marcus Bean but Joseph Mills was back on the post and able to clear.

Saints did create themselves another opening as Barnard laid the ball back into the path of Lallana but his first time side footed effort was saved by Szczesny diving to his left.

But from then on it was all about Brentford’s pressure and whether Saints could keep them out.

Davis was proving a hard man to beat, no more so than on 66 minutes when he stretched full length down to his left to stop from Sam Saunders before MacDonald fired the follow up against the outside of the post.

There was controversy on 70 minutes as Brentford were awarded a very harsh looking penalty as Bean’s volley in the area struck a Saints arm but from point blank range. The linesman flagged for handball and the referee pointed to the spot.

But justice was done in the end as O’Connor’s well struck but fairly central effort was stopped by Davis low to his right this time.

The Kelvin Davis brick wall continued to frustrate Brentford as he first saved from O’Connor again and then from MacDonald’s close range header.

But moments after that he was finally beaten. With 83 minutes gone a cross came from in from the left that picked out Leon Legge unmarked in the centre and he powered home a header from six yards that even Davis wasn’t going to stop.

It was a tough blow as Saints continue to impress in the cup when they need a shot in the arm in the league.