Southampton boss Russell Martin felt Che Adams’ stoppage-time winner against Plymouth was no coincidence after a “relentless” second-half showing from his side at Home Park.

The clash between last season’s League One champions Argyle and relegated Premier League side Saints looked set to end in a draw after Ryan Hardie quickly cancelled out Nathan Tella’s 49th-minute opener for the visitors.

But, with four minutes of added time played, Adams snatched victory for Southampton when he turned the ball home at the far post after Plymouth keeper Conor Hazard had palmed out Adam Armstrong’s goal-bound header from a corner.

Martin said: “The late goal is no coincidence, the amount of work we put into the opposition for games.

“The last half an hour, we were really impressive, really dominant.

“I really wasn’t happy with the first half; I told the players that at half-time and I think they feel the same way.

“We have to be really demanding, I said to them we will have a lot of good moments but there will be tough moments.”

One of those tough moments came just a minute before Adams’ late winner, when Plymouth forward Morgan Whittaker struck the post for the hosts.

Martin, whose side now have seven points from their opening three Championship games, added: “We had plenty of tough moments today in the first half and it was our doing and I was frustrated at that. But the way they responded at half-time, they were brilliant.

“The only downside was conceding a goal so soon after conceding. But the character to come back was impressive. Last season was such a disappointing season for everyone and the supporters as well. Their response to the goal we conceded was amazing.

“The players were relentless in the second half and that is what we need to be.

“We will learn as we are building.

“We will improve, there is a lot to improve on. I was really pleased with the mentality of the players, it has given us the belief, the connection with each other.”

Plymouth’s loss was the first in the Championship since winning promotion, having picked up four points from their opening two games.

Argyle boss Steven Schumacher believes his side can take confidence from their performance despite the late disappointment.

He said: “It was a good standard with some real high quality moments in the game from both teams.

“We played our part and probably edged the first half. The second half Southampton came into the game a little bit more.

“They had the huge spells of possession that we expected but all of the time I thought we were always in the game and to lose it like that right at the end of the game is a bit gutting, a bit of a sucker-punch but that’s football, it can be cruel sometimes.

“We still had five minutes to go so I thought we’d get one back. That’s been a trait of our team over the past couple of seasons. We never give in, we never sit back and accept defeat and we kept pushing with four minutes to go and had a couple of chances from set-plays.

“On another day one of them goes in but I can’t fault the lads’ effort. They gave us everything they had today.

“I felt we had the gameplan right and caused Southampton loads of problems.

“I don’t think we started the second half very well and they got momentum right from the kick off and then managed to score.

“But again the lads responded brilliantly and produced a lovely goal from a well-worked move and a great finish by Ryan and it shows once again we can compete at this level. We should grow in confidence from it.”

Southampton manager Russell Martin admitted his side were too nervous after being bailed out by a 97th-minute equaliser to draw 4-4 against Norwich.

Adam Armstrong smashed in the last-gasp penalty to end a thriller at St Mary’s – which had seen the Canaries lead three times.

But Martin, in his first appearance in the home dugout on the south coast, was frustrated with the hangover from Premier League relegation.

“It was a fair result for both teams,” admitted Martin. “I would have been really upset if we had lost and really gutted for the supporters and players.

“It was a good advertisement for the Championship. It was entertaining. I don’t think either keeper did much wrong – it is madness they both conceded four goals.

“It was a strange and crazy game and I hope we don’t have many like that.

“There were too many moments that we wouldn’t have wanted. We gave them too many moments.

“I’m angry and annoyed at conceding four goals but on the other hand I’m proud about the team’s character and being so dominant in some parts.

“We had 31 shots which is a lot so there is plenty to be proud of but still be annoyed.

“It is the first time back this season and after last year there was too much nervousness.”

There were five goals in a crazy first half, which included three goals in 344 seconds, starting with Josh Sargent’s back-post header in the seventh minute.

Southampton burst back into the match and led after Jan Bednarek collected a rebound to score his first goal since April 2022, and Armstrong converted his first penalty of the match after Shane Duffy’s handball.

Gabriel Sara and Jon Rowe both netted to give the visitors the advantage again, only for substitute Che Adams to rifle in a fine finish into the bottom corner.

Christian Fassnacht thought he had won it six minutes from time after capitalising on Ryan Manning’s miskick but Armstrong ended the helter-skelter match from the spot, after Kyle Walker-Peters had been shoved by Dimitris Giannoulis.

Norwich boss David Wagner said: “No [it wasn’t naive to concede a late penalty], under pressure and away from home those situations can happen. I thought the players worked really hard but there was a lack of concentration at the end of the game that must not happen.

“We weren’t super clinical but we still scored four goals!

“Today it was entertaining. I think you have seen two quality sides early in the season when both teams want a win. I am happy about how brave the players were but I’ve seen we have a lot of work to do.”

Russell Martin criticised his Southampton players for “feeling sorry for themselves” and entering “self-preservation mode” after a shock 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat at Gillingham.

Last season’s semi-finalists were stunned in the opening round of this year’s competition as Robbie McKenzie’s double and Ashley Nadesan’s early strike propelled Neil Harris’ League Two side to a memorable triumph on home soil.

Martin made 11 changes to the team that beat Sheffield Wednesday in the Saints’ Championship opener on Friday night and was unhappy with his second-string side’s attitude after a dismal night at Priestfield.

“It definitely wasn’t the result I was expecting, but the performance was more surprising,” he said.

“Tonight I just saw too much stuff I didn’t like, things we haven’t worked on, with people trying to write their own script.

“Players entered self-preservation mode – they were doing stuff they wanted to do.

“It was a case of ‘as long as I’m doing my own thing I’m OK’, but it shouldn’t be like that.

“Some people had too much pity, too much feeling sorry for themselves, and they’re probably the ones who don’t see their futures here in the next three weeks.

“I understand that, it’s difficult to deal with, but they should have showed off what they can do on the pitch.”

Gillingham went ahead after just 12 minutes when summer signing Nadesan slid in to poke Ethan Coleman’s cross past Alex McCarthy.

McKenzie stabbed home from close range six minutes after the break to double the hosts’ advantage before then capitalising on more lacklustre Southampton defending to net his second.

Substitute Carlos Alcaraz curled home a fine consolation goal late on but that did little to improve an otherwise miserable night for the south coast side in Kent.

Gills boss Harris said: “It couldn’t have gone any better. It’s a great result, and the performance was excellent.

“If anything, the win should have been by more than two goals.

“Southampton are a top side, even with the changes – I wanted to play on the front foot.

“We dominated the first 15 minutes, during which we could have scored more than one, and ultimately for 75 minutes we bossed it.

“The cup competitions aren’t the priority, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win. We want to be competitive, we want 8,000 people to appreciate that, and we’ll do the same in the next round.”