Player ratings as rudderless Southampton lose again at home

After suffering yet another home defeat, Southampton manager Will Still may well be lucky to still be in the job when the Saints travel to Queens Park Rangers in midweek.

Following a terrible performance at Blackburn Rovers, the manager made three changes with Downes, Jander, and Harwood-Bellis returning to the starting line-up.

Léo Scienza had a good effort beaten away by Preston keeper Daniel Iverson a few minutes before Lewis Dobbin opened the scoring for Preston in the 38th minute.

Ronnie Edwards failed to deal with Dobbin, who turned Edwards a few yards from goal, before getting his shot away. McCarthy did well to get down sharply and block the shot but the ball fell straight back to Dobbin to clip the ball into the net.

Half-Time: Southampton 0-1 Preston

Still made two changes at half-time and switched to his preferred formation 4-2-3-1. Ronnie Edwards and Finn Azaz were replaced by Tom Fellows and Jay Robinson. Southampton looked better for a while but too many changes disrupted the home team's flow.

Caspar Jander, who had a very good game, almost scored an equaliser when his curling shot, destined for the top corner, was tipped onto the bar by the keeper.

Preston turned up with a pragmatic approach and were very difficult to break down. When Southampton were punished on the counter attack deep in injury time it made no great difference.

Full-Time: Southampton 0-2 Preston

Southampton 0-2 Preston: player ratings

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Alex McCarthy (GK) - 5/10 - Poor distribution. Made a decent stop in the process of Dobbin scoring but was all over the place for Preston's second.

Mads Roerslev (RWB) - 5/10 - Anonymous in the first half. Overlapped better when Still changed the formation.

Ronnie Edwards (CB) - 4/10 - Turned so easily by Dobbin for the first goal, it was embarrassing. Withdrawn at half-time.

Nathan Wood (CB) - 5/10 - Better when paired with Harwood-Bellis in the second half. Had a strange moment in the first half when he completely missed the ball with a diving defensive header.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis (CB) - 6/10 - Exactly like Wood, Harwood-Bellis was much better in the second half in a back four.

Ryan Manning (LWB) - 6/10 - Back in the side with Welington ruled out. Put some telling crosses in which Saints failed to capitalise on.

Midfielders

Caspar Jander (CM) - 7/10 - Jander's best performance of the season. Out of possession, he was tenacious. Unlucky not to score when his curling right foot shot, destined for the top right hand corner, was tipped onto the bar by the keeper.

Flynn Downes (CM) - 5/10 - Always strong in the tackle and it was no different today. A little wasteful in possession. Withdrawn after 69 minutes which was a decent contribution from a player who has been out for so long.

Forwards

Adam Armstrong (RF)- 4/10 - Wandered around like a disinterested passenger.

Finn Azaz (CF) - 4/10 - Struggled to control the ball and looked very short on confidence.

Leo Scienza (LF) - 6.5/10 - One of the few bright sparks in a frankly appalling performance.

Substitutes

• Tom Fellows - 6/10
• Jay Robinson - 5/10
• Damion Downs - 4/10
• Joe Aribo - N/A
• Nicholas Oyekunle - N/A

Player of the match: Caspar Jander