By Ryan Lowe’s own admission, one Preston North End ace was handed a rather unenviable task during Tuesday’s meeting with promotion-chasing Southampton at St Mary’s.
Championship defenders have struggled all season long to contain Russell Martin‘s talisman.
So Duane Holmes, the winger playing out of position at right-wing back and hauled off before half-time after picking up a booking, might not be rushing to thank the Preston boss for handing him the job of keeping the irrepressible Adam Armstrong quiet.
Holmes was arguably at fault for two of the three goals Southampton scored in a dominant first-half. He was beaten by Armstrong as the former Blackburn Rovers talisman fizzed in a cross for Che Adams to convert.
Holmes’ poor clearance then set up Adam’s namesake Stuart, the Scotland international whipping home a third before Preston’s stand-in full-back was put out of his misery by Lowe with just 40 minutes on the clock.
Southampton hammer Preston 3-0
“Maybe it was a tough ask for him to go out there and do that job,” Lowe sighs, speaking to the Lancashire Evening Press after watching Holmes toil up against a man who very nearly took his Championship tally to 21 with an ingenious lob from long range.
“He could’ve pushed up a bit more and Jordan (Storey) could’ve come across potentially. But (Adam Armstrong) is a Premier League quality striker isn’t he? And he can cause problems, so I forgive Duano for that.”
No player in England’s second tier has more goal contributions than Adam Armstrong in 2023/24. In addition to his 20 goals, the one-time Newcastle United prospect also has 13 assists, one of those fizzed across the box for Adams to score his first of a quickfire brace on Tuesday on the South Coast.
In any player can be forgiven for feeling a little hard done by after being omitted from the Championship’s official Team of the Season – Crysencio Summerville, Morgan Whittaker, Georginio Rutter and Sammie Szmodics included instead – it’s him.
Adam Armstrong and Che Adams shine
“I think it was a brilliant performance with some really beautiful stuff,” Martin smiles, Southampton closing the gap to third-place Leeds United and keeping their automatic promotion hopes alive with just four games remaining (Daily Echo).
“It has been a big week for us. It has changed the dynamic. We were written off some time ago but the players have stuck at it and been resilient.”
With three wins on the spin, Southampton are in the best form of any club in the division’s top four.
“We have the opportunity to take the points off teams around us but we have to take care of the next one against Cardiff,” Martin adds, looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to South Wales. “And, if we don’t, then the others become a bit pointless.
“I said in our chat in the office after someone said it was nice to have an easy game. It’s never easy. It is never easy.
“It’s a big step forward from Saturday. We need to learn again from this what’s going to be important for this Saturday now.”