Ninety minutes before kick-off, a couple of digivans poking fun at Wrexham completed another lap of St Mary’s, whizzing past with an LED billboard that read: “Who needs Hollywood?” with the letters of Southampton studded in the Californian hills.
On this evidence the Welsh club – back at this level for the first time since 1982 after an extraordinary rise from non-league – are sure to be a fun addition to the Championship, but how they were given a galling reminder of the step up, Saints scoring twice in the final nine minutes to earn a comeback win and a first under Will Still.