Southampton boss Russell Martin joked about hating the basketball nature of his side’s breathless 5-3 Sky Bet Championship victory over Huddersfield at St Mary’s.

Saints trailed 2-0 and 3-2 and were looking at their 24-game unbeaten run ending before a manic second half ended up with the high-flying hosts claiming victory thanks to Joe Rothwell’s double, a Tom Lees own goal and late strikes from Sekou Mara and Samuel Edozie.

They might have kept their club-record run, and maintained second spot in the table, but master of perfection Martin was less enthralled by the “carnage” on view.

“I enjoyed the feeling at the end. That isn’t my kind of game. It was like basketball at one point, it was carnage,” he said.

“I love basketball but not on a big pitch.

“My immediate feeling is immense pride and gratitude towards the players and the supporters for the energy they showed.

“The conversation we had at half-time was about how it is never easy to play the way we want to play.

“To do what they are doing is incredible. Nobody should ever take that for granted. It takes immense work, courage and intensity. We lacked all of that in the first half.

“Then, to bring it back to 2-2, what a response. Then we got caught up in that emotion. To go 3-2 down and deal with that setback was incredible.

“I’m frustrated at the first half. I’m frustrated that we have conceded as many goals today as we have in our last 10 home games.

“But big credit to Huddersfield, I thought they were great. They came here with complete freedom. They deserved to be leading at half time, but we deserved to win it by the end of the game.

“We will take a lot from that second half, but we will also learn a lot from the first half. The gaps were too big and we lacked courage because what Huddersfield were doing to us.

“We got spooked for the first time in a long time. To overcome that in the way that we did was immense. I am so proud of them.”

Sorba Thomas’ 36th-minute opener saw Southampton trailing at home for the first time in almost 22 hours before David Kasumu gave the struggling visitors a 2-0 half-time lead.

However, Saints were level inside five minutes of the second half with Rothwell firing home a superb first-time volley before netting his second after being set up by fellow Bournemouth loanee David Brooks.

But the Terriers found a second wind to lead again through a heavily-deflected Alex Matos shot in the 65th minute, before Saints rallied once more to net three times in the last 10 minutes and claim a dramatic win.

Rothwell’s low centre saw Lees put through his own goal before Mara and Edozie completed the turnaround.

Interim Huddersfield boss Jon Worthington, who saw his side beat relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 in his first game in charge, said “I enjoyed the game. The lads gave everything I asked of them and followed the plan to a tee.

“There are loads of positives especially as a coach and from the way we played.

“I’m really proud. I believe in this group of players and they have trust in me and the staff to follow the game plan.

“We are disappointed with the result. I want to win games, and hate losing and so do the players.

“Loved the performance and the front four and that is how I think it should be played.

“At 2-0 up we didn’t want to sit back because that would be what Southampton wanted.”

Che Adams and Carlos Alcaraz netted as Southampton continued their assault on the Sky Bet Championship automatic places by beating Plymouth 2-1 at St Mary’s.

Alcaraz’s and Adams’ second-half strikes were also given an official seal of approval as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – a Southampton fan – celebrated them from the stands.

Ryan Hardie pulled one back in stoppage time but Saints are now on a 17-league match unbeaten run – two off their 102-year club record – and have scored 12 goals in their last four fixtures to turn up the pressure on Ipswich and Leicester.

The first half was summed up by Southampton having 81 per cent of possession but not legally finding the back of the net.

Striker Adams did roll the ball past Conor Hazard and into the goal in the fifth minute only to see the offside flag raised.

And then Adam Armstrong had the net rippling as he took aim from inside the centre circle but the ball landed on the roof of the goal with a scrambling Hazard beaten.

Saints continued to push. Kyle Walker-Peters twisted and turned in the box but his shot was weak, Alcaraz swivelled on the edge of the area but struck wide and Ryan Manning dragged wide.

They even hit a post as Manchester City loanee Taylor Harwood-Bellis glanced a header from a corner onto the upright.

Argyle had little attacking threat, but Morgan Whittaker was chased down by Samuel Edozie when clean through and their only shot of note saw Ben Waine slice high over the goal.

The visitors thought they had scored 10 minutes into the second period but Bali Mumba was offside before nodding in – moments later Alcaraz had opened the scoring for real and they stared down the barrel of continuing their 100 per cent winless away record.

The Argentinian had already gone close twice since the restart before receiving the ball from Edozie just outside the area before curling sumptuously into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season.

The goal opened the visitors up and after Will Smallbone had glanced a header wide, Adams made it two with some fine strength.

Harwood-Bellis spotted his run and unleashed him with a perfectly clipped ball down the middle, which allowed Adams to hold off his defender and finish past Hazard.

Joe Aribo crashed just wide, Adam Armstrong forced a save out of Hazard while Sekou Mara and Jack Stephens were both blocked on the line.

The Pilgrims did score the first away goal at St Mary’s since November 11 when keeper Gavin Bazunu had the ball pinched off him on his own goalline by Hardie – who tapped in.

Ryan Fraser squandered a one-on-one and Whittaker curled over in a breathless finale but Saints made it seven home victories on the spin.

Chelsea loanee Omari Hutchinson’s first goal for Ipswich was enough to earn them a 1-0 win at Southampton.

The Tractor Boys are up to second in the Sky Bet Championship after winning four successive away games in the second tier for the first time in eight years.

Saints, expected by many to go straight back up after last season’s Premier League relegation, have now lost their last three games.

Southampton started brightly and half of the St Mary’s crowd thought Adam Armstrong had scored with just five minutes played when he rippled the side-netting from the edge of the box.

Ipswich did have the ball in the net two minutes later, only for Conor Chaplin’s close-range effort from Hutchinson’s inswinging corner to be harshly ruled out for a foul.

Shea Charles passed up a presentable opportunity to test Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky when he headed over from a Kyle Walker-Peters cross.

Brandon Williams then ballooned a header into the stands after rising at the far post to meet Wes Burns’ centre.

Ipswich took the lead on the half-hour mark after capitalising on a Charles mistake.

The Northern Ireland international was caught dwelling on the ball by Hutchinson just outside his own penalty area and the Chelsea loanee played a one-two with Chaplin before slotting home.

It was deja-vu for Saints six minutes later when Chaplin dispossessed Joe Aribo deep inside his own half before lofting his shot over goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu and onto the top of the crossbar.

The rebound fell kindly for George Hirst but the Ipswich striker could not keep his effort down.

Saints were booed off by their own fans at half-time but manager Russell Martin resisted the temptation to make any substitutions for the start of the second half.

Che Adams could have equalised four minutes after the restart but his effort from a Walker-Peters through ball 10 yards out was kept out by Hladky at full stretch.

Bazunu did well to throw himself low to his right and turn Chaplin’s well-struck left-foot volley from 20 yards away from goal.

Martin did turn to his bench in the 58th minute, bringing on experienced Premier League duo Jan Bednarek and Stuart Armstrong and winger Kamaldeen Sulemana.

Shortly after his arrival, Sulemana’s teasing low cross caused chaos in the Ipswich penalty area before Adam Armstrong’s shot was eventually smuggled behind for a corner.

Will Smallbone and Adams also had shots blocked as the Ipswich defence put their bodies on the line to preserve the victory.

Southampton manager Russell Martin insists Leicester should be criticised as much as his side despite winning 4-1 at St Mary’s.

Saints conceded after 21 seconds to a thumping Jamie Vardy finish before Kasey McAteer, Wilfred Ndidi and Stephy Mavididi also netted as the Foxes ran riot.

But Martin, who saw Sam Edozie pull one back and Kamaldeen Sulemana sent off late on, thinks the result did not reflect the two sides’ performances.

He said: “It is a very different feeling to Sunderland (5-0 defeat). I am proud of the players, people will criticise me for saying that but they did what we asked of them.

“I take loads from that and it was a much better performance than Sunderland.

“If anyone expected there not to be any pain when it is such a big change then they are very naive.

“Leicester lost the ball as much as we did but they have come out on the right end of the scoreline so Enzo (Maresca) will not get criticised.

“I asked the players to go toe to toe with a really good team and I thought it was a very good game.

“We made life difficult for ourselves by conceding two early goals. They were really clinical and we weren’t. They took their chances and we didn’t.

“People can read what they want into it but if we took our chances it is a very different scoreline.

“It was a tough atmosphere which I understand because we were 2-0 down in 20 minutes.

“They have to do their best to shut that out. But the only way we can get them off our backs is to win games and make everyone feel positive.

“On Tuesday both the fans and the players have a choice about how to approach it. The supporters have the choice of coming to support or causing anxieties.

“They have been great since I’ve been here and I’d have been annoyed if we had started like we did and lost.”

Vardy’s opener, his first in the Championship this season after Mavididi’s fine pull back, was followed quickly by McAteer controlling and slotting in after Saints gave the ball away in midfield.

Edozie bagged his second of the campaign but Ndidi’s finish handed the Foxes back their two-goal advantage before the interval, with Mavididi getting the goal his performance deserved in the 67th minute.

Leicester manager Enzo Maresca said: “I am very happy. Winning the game is always important, it is never easy but the performance on and off the ball was very good.

“Sometimes like tonight we were a little more clinical and more clear in our decision-making.

“Since day one we have arrived quite well in the last third but we miss the right choices and aren’t patient, but tonight it worked better.

“We still need to improve and add new solutions. I don’t like basketball games. We know they want the same way of playing as us – keep the ball and try to win. So we knew we couldn’t control the game for 90 minutes.

“The way we worked off the ball, how aggressive we were, was the key point.

“Stephy is an important player for us but tonight was a good performance from all the players.”

Adam Armstrong continued his impressive start to the season as unbeaten Southampton beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1 at St Mary’s.

Striker Armstrong fired in his fourth goal of the campaign to hide the gap left by absent Che Adams.

Earlier, Samuel Edozie’s first professional goal and Jack Colback’s long-range daisy-cutter cancelled each other out within three first-half minutes.

Samuel Amo-Ameyaw was handed his first start for Saints – in lieu of Adams, who has been the subject of transfer rumours – and was bidding to be the fourth youngest goalscorer in the club’s history.

The 17-year-old’s first involvement saw him stand up a cross for Carlos Alcaraz – who nodded tamely at Asmir Begovic.

Southampton dominated the first half an hour but, while QPR were restricted to their own half, they stopped Saints from creating heaps of chances.

The only effort of note saw Edozie skilfully leave Paul Smyth on his back down the left flank before feeding Armstrong, whose shot was deflected behind.

Saints picked their way through the regimented defence in the 30th minute. Ryan Manning squirted a perfect through ball for Edozie to cut onto his right foot and smash through Begovic.

It was winger Edozie’s first goal on his 28th senior appearance.

Two minutes and 29 seconds later QPR were back level when Colback’s 20-yard hit and hope went in off the post.

Colback was making his first start since arriving from Nottingham Forest and his goal was the R’s first shot of the match.

The visitors ended the first half the stronger and carried that into the second period.

The lively Ilias Chair shrugged off tackles to skip inside but was denied by Gavin Bazunu, with Sinclair Armstrong offside when he poked in the rebound.

Sinclair Armstrong hit a low shot at the keeper, before Chair was thwarted by Bazunu again three minutes after the interval.

Smyth smashed into the side netting and hit the bar as QPR pushed to take the lead, but it was Saints who would grab the third goal of the game in the 64th minute – their first shot for over half an hour.

Debutant Ryan Fraser and Sekou Mara’s introductions allowed Adam Armstrong a freer role and he made the most of it when Manning slid a ball to him.

Armstrong initially mis-controlled the pass but he adjusted to the bobble to fire across Begovic for his fourth goal of the campaign.

Substitute Rayan Kolli had a chance for a stoppage-time equaliser but took a touch and lost his balance when one-on-one to leave QPR with three defeats from four league matches.