Southampton FC: Russell Martin opens up on big Kyle Walker-Peters decision | OneFootball

Southampton boss Russell Martin has revealed why he made the decision to not start Kyle Walker-Peters against Ipswich Town, on Monday night.

Prior to the Easter weekend, not only did Southampton have a big say on which teams would go up automatically, because they had all of the top three still left to play, but, with the games in hand that they had, they would have been able to insert themselves back into that conversation with the right results.

Things didn't get off to a brilliant start as a 90th minute goal from Emmanuel Latte Lath, in the Saints' Good Friday game against Middlesbrough, set them even further behind the pace of the top three.

Leicester City's win against Norwich City in the early kick-off, on Easter Monday, made victory over Ipswich a near must for Martin's men, but it wasn't to be. After taking a 2-1 lead just 23 minutes into the game, Southampton weren't able to hold on to their winning position.

Nathan Broadhead found the back of the net with just over 20 minutes to go of the 90, and then, in the last minute of added time, Jeremy Sarmiento poked the ball past Gavin Bazunu, which erupted Portman Road.

After their disappointing weekend, the Saints find themselves 11 points back from the top three. They do still have two games in hand on Ipswich and Leeds United, but it still seems a tough hurdle to overcome with just eight games to go.

In the aforementioned match against Boro, on Friday, Walker-Peters returned from injury, but he also left Latte Lath free at the back post to score the equaliser. The full-back had been out for a month after injuring his leg in a substitute appearance against Liverpool in the FA Cup. Martin has now revealed the reason why the 26-year-old was left out of the starting XI for the game with Town.

Russell Martin's reasons for dropping Kyle Walker-Peters

Speaking to the Daily Echo after the game, the Scottish manager revealed that the former Tottenham Hotspur full-back's performance against Michael Carrick's side, in contrast with James Bree's, plus his lack of recent game time, was the reason that Walker-Peters didn't start against Ipswich.

"James Bree deserved to play," said Martin. "Kyle hasn't played for a while and played on Friday. No player is guaranteed to start in the team.

"Kyle didn't have his best game for us [against Middlesbrough] and Bree was excellent. I don't think there was a problem with his performance."

Martin added that the reason for his side falling short wasn't because of the personnel choices that he made, and that the squad he did pick performed admirably.

"The way the team played was fantastic. We don't lose because of a problem with the selection or the guys on the pitch."

Fans right to be confused over Walker-Peters selection decision

Almost without doubt, the 26-year-old is one of the best players that the Saints have to offer. His Premier League experience has been magnified by the drop in levels in the Championship, and his consistency has been a massive help for Southampton this season.

Even with his sub-par performance on Good Friday, fans were still confused as to why Walker-Peters wasn't given the nod ahead of Bree.

There was so much riding on that game for both teams. A win for Martin's side would have firmly entrenched themselves in the automatic promotion race, and a win for Ipswich would guarantee that they would be in the top two, even if all the teams below them won their games in hand. The latter happened, and Southampton's top-two hopes have taken a real beating.

Would Walker-Peters' presence in the starting XI have made the difference for the Saints? We'll never know. But fans who are confused about why one of their best players was omitted from such a big game are well within their right to be.