Southampton boss makes 'suffer' demand in bid to follow Leeds United's lead

Russell Martin is calling on his Southampton side make West Bromwich Albion 'suffer' in their Championship play-off semi-final second leg. Leeds United booked their place in next week's final at Wembley Stadium with a 4-0 win over Norwich City on Thursday night and Southampton will be vying to join them this evening.

The Saints, who beat Leeds at Elland Road on the final day of the regular campaign, were held to a 0-0 draw by Carlos Corberan's Baggies at The Hawthorns last weekend. But they know that one goal on home soil could be enough to sway the tie and take them to within just 90 minutes of an instant return to the Premier League.

Martin's side won't be struggling for motivation then and it seems the Southampton boss is keen to see his players follow the Whites' lead by taking the game to their opponents in the second leg of the tie and put them under pressure.

"I think the players have taken a lot from going to the two teams with the best home form in the league at Leeds and West Brom in the last two games," Martin said ahead of the all-important meeting on the south coast. "Really the moments we've had to suffer, to really suffer together and stick together and fight and defend properly with a brilliant mentality and to stop things coming in the box and when they do come in the box to deal with them.

"We don't want to be that team that just sets out to do that but in games like this you have to accept there will be a moment, especially away from home. That moment came really early at The Hawthorns and the players weathered it brilliantly and came out of it with composure and calmness.

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"So I want us to make them suffer as much as we possibly can of course but if we have a moment where we have to really dig deep, and we will do, then I think the players have taken a lot from that in the last couple of weeks and it will be good for us."

Martin wasn't able to call on the services of Che Adams in the first leg of the contest with the striker continuing to struggle with the injury he picked up at Elland Road earlier this month. The head coach appears to be a little bit more optimistic about the forward's availability this time around, though, insisting the Scotland international has done everything possible to feature.

"He's in a good place," Martin added. "He's in a much better place than he was. And he's given everything he can to be fit for the game. We'll wait and see."