Southampton boss Russell Martin admitted he was “disappointed” not to leave Ewood Park with all three points following their goalless draw against Rovers.

Joe Aribo crashed a header against the crossbar midway through the first half but it took the Saints until the 80th minute to have their first shot on target.

“They didn’t have a huge amount of the ball but they have a real threat,” Martin said after the final whistle.

“They score a lot and create a lot – the data backs that up. They had a great result (at Sunderland) last week.

“I am pleased with that side of the game and the aggression of the team. It was a tough game and big credit to Blackburn.

“But I am really disappointed with the side we have been so good at recently - the creativity and attacking flow was not there.

“We broke the press in the first half and didn’t drive with the ball, allowing the Blackburn front players to get back in. We were too slow with the ball and lacked purpose.

“(The second half) looked more like it should with the quality we have in the squad. We pinned them in for large parts and they were a threat on the counter attack, but we didn’t create or test the goalkeeper anywhere near enough so that is frustrating.”

The result leaves the Saints fourth in the Championship table – 12 points off the automatic promotion spots but with a couple of games in hand.

When asked if he felt his side should have gone more direct in the final stages, Martin replied: “There is this thing in the last 10 minutes about putting the ball forward.

“In the big moments of pressure when we really need it, if we revert to something completely different, we probably don’t believe in doing it and should be doing that from the start.

“When the atmosphere and teams are defending a lot, it is because of the way we do things for 80-odd minutes. To change that, I don’t think it makes a lot of sense.

“But we should have definitely crossed the ball more today and unfortunately that decision making was not good enough. It is our job to make sure the players understand and are better next time.”