Saints stepped up their pre season campaign.

Saints conceded a sloppy equaliser with six minutes to go to be held to a 1-1 draw at Cheltenham Town.

The plus point of the day though was that Michael Svensson came through the full 90 minutes and formed a solid partnership with Chris Perry.

Saints put out a stronger starting line up for this game, however the use of six substitutes including three at the break showed that this was far from a best 11 and that the squad is still getting used to playing together.

Saints lead at half time through a Bradley Wright Phillips goal and could of and should of have been in front well before the opener.

In the second half Saints dominated despite the multiple changes made and this was truly a squad performance , however they had a lapse in concentration and allowed Cheltenham to earn a draw with six minutes left when 16 year old Theo lweis picked up a poor clearance and drilled the ball home.

The result wont matter to the coaching team though, the object of these games is to get time on the pitch under the players belts and to learn from the performance, Jan Poortvliet will be starting to get to know his players now as the season approaches, he will be disapointed that we conceded the late goal, but it will have highlighted a few areas to him.   

Photo: Action Images

Southampton Polls