Southampton squad hit by illness ahead of Everton clash as Russell Martin 'annoyed and frustrated'

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Southampton beat Stoke City in the Carabao Cup and now prepare to face Everton in their Premier League.

Russell Martin has admitted that Southampton have been impacted by illness ahead of their clash against Everton.

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The Saints moved into the fifth round of the Carabao Cup as they earned a 3-2 win against Stoke City at St Mary’s last night. But they have endured their struggles since promotion back to the Premier League and are rooted to the bottom of the table, having picked up just one point in nine matches.

Everton, unbeaten in their past five games, make the trip to the south coast on Saturday. And Martin will be hoping that he can get several of his troops back available from a virus, with Ryan Fraser being forced off against Stoke while Flynn Downes was one of the players who could not feature.

Via the Southern Daily Echo, Martin said: “We had a few guys that were going to play tonight that can't because they're not very well. We had a bit of a virus and stuff in the camp. I think everyone's had it at various points over the last couple of weeks. Flynn could have been in the game but he was just not feeling very well.

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“Wee Man [Fraser] was sort of not feeling great before the game but wanted to give it a go and then just felt a bit tight and a bit tired. He didn't have the usual spark he normally has so he came off but he gave it a go and wanted to give it a go and I think that'll be important for him.

“Even having half an hour and hopefully, he feels better very quickly. I do expect by Friday or hopefully Thursday, we'll have everyone back training and feeling okay. Jack Stephens was on the bench but maybe would have played if he felt better after Saturday. Adam Armstrong's fine, we're just managing his minutes.

“We had a couple of guys at the training ground like Ryan Manning that, like the other guys that are not involved, just ticked over really. He's not been feeling great since the weekend. I expect some of them to train tomorrow and most of them, if not all, to be ready by Thursday or Friday.”

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Southampton took a two-goal lead against Stoke through goals from Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Adam Armstrong. Yet the Championship visitors equalised moments before half-time through Ashley Phillips. Martin, serving a one-match touchline ban, missed that strike as he made his way to the dressing room for half-time. Former Everton striker Tom Cannon levelled for Stoke after the break before James Bree came to Southampton’s rescue with two minutes remaining.

Martin told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It should have been easier than what it was, we were so dominant in the first half and should have gone in 2-0 up, so I'm a bit annoyed at that. By the time I left the stands we were 2-0 up and it was 2-1 by the time I got down so I was annoyed and frustrated.

"But I really liked the performance on the whole in the first half. The final choice in terms of pass, cross or finish wasn't there. We could have made more of that but we gave them something to hold on to which changed the context of the game."

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