Southampton manager Nathan Jones has bemoaned his side's inability to defend set-pieces after they lost 1-0 to Aston Villa in the Premier League at St Mary's on Saturday.
The Saints welcome Newcastle United to the south coast in the first of the two-legged semi-final on Tuesday, January 24. The return leg at St James' Park will take place on January 31, where the Toon Army will have the chance to roar their side on to victory as they look to end a 54-year wait for a major trophy.
Eddie Howe's side have been sensational this season and will be searching for any and every route to victory in their semi-final. Yet Jones may well have just highlighted his team's main weakness following their 1-0 defeat to Villa - set-pieces.
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Kieran Trippier would have been watching intently as Doulgas Luiz floated in a free-kick in the 77th minute that saw Ollie Watkins head home the winner for Unai Emery's side. After the game, Jones was frustrated over conceding from a dead ball situation, having revealed how hard Southampton had worked on defending them in training.
"I couldn’t have gone any more aggressive yesterday in terms of set pieces and nailing certain bits down," Jones told club media. "We defended set plays well today for the majority today but it was one that cost us again and that’s really frustration because in general play we’re not getting carved open.
"From front to back we’re defending superbly well and limiting teams to very little. It’s just set plays and if we can master that we’ll keep more clean sheets and that will give us more wins.
"We gave the ball away too many times. Defensively we looked strong, we looked aggressive but then we gave the ball away and we weren’t potent. We didn’t use our solutions enough so that’s something we’ve got to do better.
"We’ve got to be better on all levels and we’ve got to make sure we’re picking up points. If we defend one set play better today then we pick up a point and then we go ‘okay another positive, another point.’"
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