SAINTS manager Nathan Jones has defended his decision to start with a back five in his side’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg defeat to Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

Needing to overturn the 1-0 deficit suffered in the first leg at St Mary’s, Saints began in a back five with Kyle Walker-Peters and new signing James Bree flanking Mohammed Salisu, Lyanco, and Jan Bednarek.

And disaster struck almost immediately when Magpies midfielder Sean Longstaff scored twice in the opening 21 minutes to stretch the hosts' lead to 3-0 on aggregate. 

READ MORE: ‘In and out before I came’ - Jones explains Perraud absence after Saints EFL cup exit

Che Adams’ gave Saints something of a lifeline with a strike from the edge of the box and Jones switched to four at the back for the second half but the damage was already done as Saints failed to claw their way back into contention.

Asked about the decision to start with five defenders, Jones explained that he didn’t feel the tactical move was the reason for his side’s defeat.

“In a back four if you’re passive and sit off it doesn’t matter if you play back five, back three, whatever you do if you’re passive then you don’t get up the pitch,” Jones said. 

“It doesn’t matter, so we had to change because they weren’t doing what we’d asked them to do.

“It suited us better and we were better in a four. We can’t just say ‘okay, we can’t do it’, because if we’re not versatile and we’re not able to do that then we won’t develop as a side. But we were better in a four because we were more aggressive.”

Saints now turn their attention back to the Premier League relegation battle as they travel to West London to face Brentford on Saturday afternoon. The Bees are the only side in the division Saints are yet to play after their September meeting was postponed.

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