Russell Martin makes Southampton psychological advantage admission ahead of Leeds United showdown

Russell Martin believes Southampton's impressive record against Leeds United this season will stand for very little come Sunday afternoon. The Saints beat Leeds twice over the course of the regular campaign and they know that if they can repeat the feat this weekend they will be promoted to the Premier League.

The Whites fell short at St Mary's back in September with the south coast club running out 3-1 victors thanks to a brace from Adam Armstrong and an effort from Will Smallbone. It was the same two players on the scoresheet when the two sides met earlier this month at Elland Road, too, with the Saints beating Leeds 2-1 on the final day of the Championship season.

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That result ensured Leeds would have to settle for a play-off spot and at the time it seemed to give Southampton the psychological upper hand ahead of a potential meeting further down the track. Martin dismisses that theory, though, and points to the League One and League Two play-off finals, which saw Oxford United and Crawley Town claim wins over opponents they had failed to beat over the regular campaign to win promotion.

"The two other games have shown it doesn't really matter, because the occasion takes over," Martin told Sky Sports. "The players know they can do it, but Leeds will also want to show they can. But whatever happens we'll do it together. We'll try and be the team we want to be, and leave nothing out there. If we do that there'll be no regrets."

He added: "There won't be any different messages to any other game this season and we'll train the same way. But we can't pretend it's a normal game otherwise, because it isn't. It's a huge occasion and that has to come into the thinking, because we have to prepare the players for that."

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Martin knows Daniel Farke fairly well, of course, having played under him briefly during his time at Norwich City. As such, over the next few days he'll be doing his best to hark his mind back to that spell to second guess what to expect from the German.

"I've gone up against Paul Lambert and Alex Neil, too," he added when asked about taking on Farke. "It's always good catching up with my old managers. I didn't play for Daniel very much, so it's not quite the same as those guys, but I respect what he's done with Norwich and now Leeds. The work he's done at this level has been outstanding. You can know a bit about their work and their process, but I'm sure it's developed a lot and evolved since I played for him, because everyone does over time.

"Ultimately though it's not about us, it's about the teams, and whoever can manage the emotion and the occasion, and who has the best game plan and carries it out."