On the Cross verdict - Leeds 2 Saints 1

After receiving criticism from certain sections of the fans for sticking with his strikers despite a string of poor performances, Harry selected a bold and surprising line-up in all areas of the field.

Niemi
Hajto (Delap, 82), Cranie, Lundekvam, Higginbotham
Belmadi (Kosowski, 67), Oakley, Quashie, McCann
Fuller (Jones, 73), Walcott
Subs: Smith, Ormerod

With Svensson nursing a sore knee, Martin Cranie came in for his first league start at centre back with Tomasz Hajto remaining at right back. This was a surprise as Cranie's lack of physical presence compared to the usual centre back giants of the Championship has seen him play at right back for Saints rather than his normal England U19 position of centre back. After some early scares he settled well into the role.

Despite consistent performances from Kosowski in recent games, McCann came in for his first start of the season at left-midfield and justified his selection with one of his best performances in a Saints shirt.

From having virtually no options on the left-hand side, Saints now have good competition at left-midfield and the continued improvement of Jason St Juste in the reserves should provide Danny Higginbotham with competition at left-back.

Harry also shuffled his options up front with the bold decision to give Theo Walcott his first league start and not on the wing, but up front. Perhaps Harry felt an away match would be less pressure for the 16 year old or perhaps this was an admittance that he had simply run out of options up front.

Theo rewarded the manager's faith with a fearless display against the relatively slow Leeds centre backs and added to his list of records by becoming Saints youngest ever scorer.

In truth, he could have had a hat-trick and was guilty of some wayward finishing. However, he can't be blamed when his senior colleagues are so wasteful in front of goal and he created many of the shooting positions through his pace. It will interesting to see if Harry starts him against Millwall at the weekend.

For all the talk of whether Theo will stay at Saints in the long term, the facts are that he has played for Saints far sooner than he could have possibly hoped for in the Premiership. Also the lower profile of the Championship has meant that he has been spared some of the media spotlight that would have put so much pressure on his young shoulders. Remember the name, remember the back page attention Rooney received.

So the run of draws is finally over and, to be honest, it is something of a relief even to lose. Again Saints played well, putting in a great performance away from home and, but for their finishing, should have come home with the points, but there's nothing new there.

The real difference was in the finishing ability of the Leeds strikers. Leeds have invested heavily in their strike force, Saints haven't, and the results are there to see. Despite the great chances that Saints created, Leeds scored with two quality strikes and also hit the woodwork twice from free kicks. How different it might have been had Saints signed Robbie Blake at the close of the transfer window after all, as he scored with a beauty from 25 yards.

A win for Saints would have taken us back into the play-off zone, instead a loss takes us down to 10th. Saints face bottom of the table Millwall on Saturday in a game that we simply have to win. We are now a massive 18 points off Sheffield United and 13 off Reading and our inability to kill sides off means that the play-offs are looking our best hope of success.

Fortunately, despite our incredible run of dropped points, we are only 2 points off the play-off positions and it is vital for morale that we get back into those positions as soon as possible and consolidate.

Strangely enough, the manager has come in for less stick for the loss than for the draw against Hull. He was bold in his selections and the players looked up for it, only to be undone by superior finishing. He even sounded more optimistic than normal in the press conference and was full of praise for the Saints players.

After praising Theo Walcott's contribution he said: "I thought all the players were terrific tonight. Martin Cranie did really well and got better and better as the game went on - I was pleased for him. and I was delighted for Neil McCann who had a tremendous game.

"I cannot believe we did not win that. We created so many chances - but every game has been like that. If we keep playing like that we will win more than we lose.

"I think we will go up. We have got enough to do that - whether it is automatic or through the play-offs. I said in the dressing room I really believe we will go up."

This kind of talk is much more like it from Harry. When he's on the up his enthusiasm is infectious and with the run we have had the fans need to hear positive thoughts coming out of the management. A win against Millwall and the world will be a much brighter place for Saints.

Man of the match: after earning just about every 'Cameo of the day' award this season, it has to be Saints' youngest ever scorer Theo Walcott. Yes, he could have had a hat-trick, but on this display there will be many more to come.

Cameo of the day: was that really Neil McCann putting in a quality display on the left-hand side. Great to see him putting in the effort after so long waiting for his opportunity.

Lemon of the day: Rupert Lowe for allegedly not buying Robbie Blake when we had the chance. Yes, he might have cost a little more than the market value, but boy could we have done with strikes like his this season.