Shane Long’s 19th minute goal was enough to see Southampton to a 1-0 FA Cup third round replay over the Blues at Portman Road. Town never looked like getting back into the game against an impressive Saints outfit, who now face Crystal Palace at home in round four.

Town keeper Bartosz Bialkowski started against his old club with Dean Gerken, who played in the first tie, having picked up an injury. Third-choice Michael Crowe was on the bench.

There was no place in the 18 for the apparently exiting Conor Sammon and with Noel Hunt ineligible having not been at the club for the first game, first-year pro Darren McQueen was amongst the subs.

Ill trio Teddy Bishop, Jay Tabb and Cole Skuse missed out, while Tyrone Mings dropped to the bench having tweeted that he was under the weather earlier in the week with Jonny Parr returning at left-back.

Southampton, who started in a 3-5-2 formation against the Blues’ regular 4-4-2, made five changes from the team which beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday with Morgan Schneiderlin, who scored in the 1-1 draw with Town at St Mary’s, missing out due to a knock. Ex-Blues keeper Kelvin Davis was on the bench.

In front of an almost capacity crowd Town started on the front foot, Kevin Bru, alongside Luke Hyam in the centre of midfield, turning an early ball into the area but too far in front of ex-Saint David McGoldrick, as usual up front alongside Daryl Murphy. On five, Darren Ambrose, Town’s scorer at St Mary’s, lashed well over from distance.

A minute later Town had the ball in the net but with a linesman’s flag having been raised. Bru played a clever pass into the path of Stephen Hunt, who beat Fraser Forster but having strayed offside, only just according to replays.

Soon after, Victor Wanyama was first to a poor Bialkowski clearance but looped his effort at goal well over.

Neither side threatened again, although with the Blues having had the upper hand, until the 19th minute when the Saints went in front via their first serious chance of the match.

Nathaniel Clyne played a ball to Dusan Tadic’s feet, the Serbian flicking it into the path of James Ward-Prowse, who broke into the area. Blues skipper Luke Chambers slid in to dispossess the England U21 international but the ball fell to Long on the right of the area and the Irishman hit a first-time shot past Bialkowski and into the net.

Town, who were unfortunate to find themselves behind on the overall balance of the game, looked to get straight back into it but McGoldrick shot high and wide from the edge of the box.

The Blues number 10 broke forward promisingly on 25 but took too long over a ball to Murphy and his pass was intercepted.

A minute later, Ward-Prowse struck a 25-year effort which caught a Town player on its way only just over the bar. From the resultant corner, Bru and Hunt broke, the Mauritian international eventually just failing to find Ambrose. Murphy had suffered a head injury as Town defended the corner and after treatment required a bandage and a change of shirt.

There was a scare for the Blues on 33 when Parr over-hit a back-pass to Bialkowski, the keeper needing to take a touch before clearing. Goalscorer Long blocked and was first to the looping ball but Chambers and then Bru cleared his cross into the box.

McGoldrick won a freekick 30 yards out on 37 but hit his strike into the wall and out for a corner. From the flag-kick the Blues claimed the ball had struck Jose Fonte’s hand but referee Graham Scott wasn’t interested.

Moments later, Bialkowski needed to come off his line quickly to clear ahead of Long after Chambers had under-hit a back-pass, the Pole’s kick striking the Irishman in the midriff and falling safely.

As the half moved into injury time, Tadic cut into the area from the right but was thwarted by Tommy Smith’s block.

McGoldrick had a chance to put his side on terms deep into injury time having been fed on the right of the area by Murphy. The Blues striker should have sent a ball across the six-yard box but instead, perhaps trying too hard to score against his old club, screwed a shot well wide from a tight angle.

Seconds before the whistle, Wanyama went down with what looked like a hamstring problem and seemed unlikely to return for the second half.

While the Blues had started brightly and perhaps unfortunate that Hunt was a whisker offside, once they’d gone in front the Saints had been well in control, looking every bit a side from a higher division and the likelier scorers of the next goal with Town making more than a couple of uncharacteristic unforced errors.

Aside from set pieces, McGoldrick’s opportunity towards the end of the half was probably the Blues’ best chance get back on terms but the Town frontman’s decision to shoot was the wrong one.

As expected Wanyama failed to appear after the restart with Steven Davis replacing him in the Southampton midfield.

The Saints began the second half on top but without causing Bialkowski too many problems.

On 55 Town boss Mick McCarthy swapped one-time Saints academy schoolboy Tyrone Mings for Hunt and switched to a 3-5-2 formation with Mings at left wing-back, Parr on the right and Berra, Smith and Chambers in the centre.

Mings’s introduction almost immediately paid dividends. The 21-year-old crossed from the left and Ambrose headed goalwards but too close to Forster.

On 63 Balint Bajner replaced McGoldrick, who looked to have suffered a knock moments beforehand, the Hungarian making his first appearance since October. McGoldrick had had a rather frustrating game against his old side.

As the match moved into its final 15 minutes the Blues started to show some signs of putting the Saints, who up then had seen out the half with ease, under pressure, Bru hitting a shot from 25 yards over. Cameron Stewart replaced Ambrose for the final seven minutes.

But Town’s big finish never came and the Blues’ FA Cup run came to an end at the third round stage for the fifth year running and they are still to win a cup tie under Mick McCarthy’s management.

In the end if was a comfortable night for Southampton, who having gone in front controlled the game professionally and confidently and competently and never seemed in any danger of letting their lead slip.

For all their usual effort and endeavour, the Blues were never able to lay a glove on the Premier League's third-placed side.

Town now have a free weekend following the away games at Millwall - who lost 4-0 at Bradford in the FA Cup this evening - on Saturday and Brighton next Wednesday.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Parr, Berra, Smith, Hyam, Bru, Ambrose (Stewart 83), S Hunt (Mings 55), Murphy, McGoldrick (Bajner 63). Unused: Crowe, Clarke, Anderson, McQueen.

Southampton: Forster, Clyne, Fonte (c), Gardos, Targett, Wanyama (S Davis 46), Reed, Ward-Prowse, Tadic (Pelle 66), Bertrand, Long. Unused: K Davis, Cork, Isgrove, McCarthy, Hesketh. Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire). Att: 27,933 (Southampton: 1,126).

Photo: Action Images

Luka added 23:45 - Jan 14 Ah, I see the football illiterates have come out. Right, 1 - not the best performance but still gave them a good game 2 - we have until March to add to it all, not January. 3 - Today showed just how much we miss the energy Tabb and Ando gives us as well as the class that Skuse does 4 - Hyam isn't that bad a player, just has had a few off days. Get off his back And 5 - If you lot all knew so, so much more than Mick, as you seem to show on here, why the hell aren't you a top manager achieving with such a small budget in a league as competitive as this? Shut up and let him get on with it all

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SuffolkBlueSam added 23:48 - Jan 14 Although the performance was abysmal tonight, there were a few positives. Ambrose is getting fitter, and I think he can be a really useful outlet. Also, I didn't think Bajner was too bad when he came on; he seems to have found a bit more 'battle', and appears to be able to hold the ball up well. An injury to Murps would have far more detriment to the team than an injury or suspension to McGoldrick. If we played the ball into feet, I feel that murph could feed successfully off Bajner - and given correct service, we saw in preseason that Bajner can finish. We have four extremely winnable fixtures coming up, so reason to still feel very optimistic. Two poor results on the box may help us in our 'under the radar' approach. Let's all get behind the boys. COYB

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StowTractorBoy added 23:50 - Jan 14 I cannot understand our approach to the game tonight as we just did not go for it. Where was the passion and usual high energy and it makes me wonder how badly the players wanted this. Some will say Southampton were comfortable but we made it comfortable for them. I don't think they were anything great but they were more than good enough to beat us which is so disappointing. Chambers, Parr and Hyam were way below normal standards and Bru was the only shining light for me. McGoldricks form is a concern and how many times tonight did both McGoldrick and Murphy drift out to the flanks leaving the penalty box devoid of blue shirts. The line up has got to change on Saturday with Anderson, Bru and Skuse in the team with possibly Stephen Hunt who I thought was unlucky to be taken off. Not worrying times but concerned right now and hope we don't suffer a backlash from Millwall on Saturday after their dreadful performance tonight.

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StowTractorBoy added 23:53 - Jan 14 Sorry forgot Bishop and Tabb who must surely come into the reckoning if they are well enough.
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Olivier added 00:03 - Jan 15 Sadly, it just wasn't enough. Southampton wasn't as strong as I expected, and there were some threatening moments, but in the end it was actually an easy win. I'm disappointed with the performance of both teams though, I was happy that my two favourite English teams were matched against each other. Hopefully they meet eachother again next season in the Premier League ;)

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mrmorisato added 00:44 - Jan 15 I think this was a game of little importance tonight, Mick and the players shouldn't take notice as to how well or bad they played because the league is much more important. I just hope McGoldrick and Bishop will be alright for the Millwall game on saturday as we don't have a lot of midfielders as cover :)
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julesbda added 01:35 - Jan 15 We looked so much better when we went 3-5-2 . Tough for chambers to play at right back against a premiership team so much better with parr on the right and mings on the left ..certainly something to look at for the championship games coming up ! . Really concerned about our passing or lack of in the midfield. We went back to front far too many times and don't hold possession . We didn't create too much and that was a shame on a big night like tonight with everyone watching . End of the day MM put the team together for peanuts and sadly tonight it showed . But we are not playing Southampton week in and week out so we need to get a good win against Millwall at the weekend and get back to our winning ways . Still worried about up front and the fact he has let Salmon go gives me hope he is going to strengthen up front in the coming days as we need back up . We have had a great season and you don't get promoted winning all your games . You had some bad patches and hopefully that's what we are going through now and we'll come out the other side stronger for it .

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Hegansheroes added 02:12 - Jan 15 That was even more embarressing than Saturday & to make it worse both games were shown on national TV. No one will want to pay to watch Ipswich and having just watched a recording of the game we will become the butt of jokes. Lawrenson was justifiably scathing about Ipswich. Did Southampton break sweat?
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 04:54 - Jan 15 I thought our lads did their best last night. Can't understand the negative slant many have put on the match. I was proud of them. Disappointed we couldn't trouble Soton more, but it was not for want of trying and we gave them a match. While Soton looked very comfortable after their goal, they couldn't relax and we gave it a real go towards the end. Yes, we lacked craft and guile in midfield, and yes, I hope MM might be able to fix this, but give the opposition some credit. Sometimes, you just have to accept they have the stronger outfit. With our strong defence that hardly gave the conquerors of multi-million pound Man U. a serious goal chance, we still have hope of making a mark in the Championship. Let's get behind the team and beat Millwall for starters!

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 04:54 - Jan 15 I thought our lads did their best last night. Can't understand the negative slant many have put on the match. I was proud of them. Disappointed we couldn't trouble Soton more, but it was not for want of trying and we gave them a match. While Soton looked very comfortable after their goal, they couldn't relax and we gave it a real go towards the end. Yes, we lacked craft and guile in midfield, and yes, I hope MM might be able to fix this, but give the opposition some credit. Sometimes, you just have to accept they have the stronger outfit. With our strong defence that hardly gave the conquerors of multi-million pound Man U. a serious goal chance, we still have hope of making a mark in the Championship. Let's get behind the team and beat Millwall for starters!

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dannyrr added 05:47 - Jan 15 I didn't feel that we played that badly. Hyam and Chambers had an awful game. We found it difficult to beat Southampton's 12th man but he was dressed in black. Just the salad the Derby game all decisions went against us. We had three claims for handball got none. They got every claim the y whined about. If they challenged for a ball and fell they got a free kick, challenges where they lost the ball they got the free kick. The handball against Murphy hit him on the back of his shoulder. Fraser Forster whined every time a player got too close to him and whined to the red every time. I don't understand where the hoofball criticism is for us. Derby got their goal as a result of hoofball and I felt that Southampton played a lot of hoofball and we played a lot of good football unfortunately with no end product. Let's go to Milwall and get a good result bring back positivity COYB

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atty added 07:08 - Jan 15 Shame, but l thought we did ok , but that's all, against clearly superior opposition. Weather didn't help and of all games we had one or two players that know they under performed- Parr, Hyam and McGoldrick. I am sick and tired of watching McGoldrick shooting from distance (when there' are other and better options) and trying to beat 2/3 players when there are passes on. We need competition for places up front, a decent right back, and Teddy and Skuse back in midfield. Oh and play Ambose, him and Bru our best players last night.

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Elizabeth added 07:21 - Jan 15 It was a disappointing performance but we have to get it into context! They made changes I know but the majority of their team went to Old Trafford at the weekend and won!! If our midfield had all been available they would have provided support for the strikers. All they had to feed on was scraps from continuous misplaced passes. Why the media insist on showing historical footage I don't know. This a different era . Let's get back to the job in hand and three points at the weekend is much more important. All teams have a wobble at some point! Let's hope we've had ours!!

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Orraman added 07:23 - Jan 15 Not outplayed, not outclassed, but out the cup. Only one focus now - the top two. Needs Didz to get his mojo back - something not working at the moment. Great display from Bru must surely earn him a regular start and following the last two games I think we should realise the importance of Skuse because Hyam looked well below required standard. Let's get the show back on the road at Millwall on Saturday

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Akaroablue added 07:52 - Jan 15 Unfortunately good Managers will now work us out, by that I mean, keep tight on Murphy and McGoldrick, stop the defenders at set pieces and what have we got left! how many goals are coming out off the middle of the park? we need a goal scoring midfield player, just like last season. No brainer IMOP.
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essexboy added 07:53 - Jan 15 Well below parr.Nothing to offer in midfield apart from Bru,I thought he had a very good game and should in my opinion play on Saturday.Hyam now has had two bad games on the trott and was terrible.I thought Mings was outstanding when he came on and looks very good in a forward position.(food for thought). Just wish we had gone down fighting with such a big crowd and live on BBC.never mind,it's history and we can now set our sights on the league.One final point,we do need cover up front and a midfielder with vision. 👍👍

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paddypowell added 08:08 - Jan 15 cum on mick,hyam was worst player on pitch so why not take him off when he put bru on and took hunt off who was more effective.mick has to tell didzy that he should start being a team player and pass to players in a better goal scoring position,than trying to score from rediculous angles,we also need a proper right back badly,parr tries but is just not up to it.still onwards and upwards back to themain objective this season promotion to the prem

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ChrisFelix added 08:24 - Jan 15 I feel that with the last 2 games we have gone back 6 months. No support or penetration from midfield for the strikers. The move to wing backs is an answer so bringing in someone with vision , or pace such as williams. In both games we were unlucky with the goals conceded & refeeing decisions which could have gone for us rather than the other way. Millwall not a lucky ground for us but Holloways team do not have the ability of Southampton

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brendenward35 added 08:37 - Jan 15 Come on people let's look at the whole picture. Several player unavailable last night through injury sickness or cup tied. How many players do we have on loan compared to previous sessions? I'm actually trying to think of one now sammon is on his way. We really don't have a massive squad of players so do we really truthfully want this squad playing extra games risking top flight football next season? Had we been beaten 8-0 like sunderland then it would have been a disgrace we lost 1-0 to a team that's just beaten man u. So let's be positive and focused and get behind the team.

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Surco72 added 09:01 - Jan 15 Dids played for himself the whole game trying to take on people rather than simple lay off , shooting from anywhere and not playing for the team . Take him out of our side and we had no other creativity until Mings came on . Murphy looks shattered but was up against Fonte who has kept Costa , Sanchez and Van Persie quiet over the last three games . Again as I said after the Derby game lets not beat ourselves up too much the Saints are a very good side , my only concern is that we are very limited , huff and puff will take you so far , if your effort is matched then you need more to break down teams and with the games coming thick and fast MM needs more options

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Kirbmeister added 09:08 - Jan 15 What is wrong with our so called fans? Celebrating one defeat in 21 only 6 days ago then two narrow defeats in which none of the teams were great in really poor windy conditions. We could be top after Saturday. Now some are slagging McGoldrick. course he may be carrying a knock or just be a bit knackered. He was our best creative player last night at least he tried to get us going. We are doing ok lay off them. Who knows where we will be at the end of the season but MM is doing a fantastic job with no cash. Don't you think he doesn't realise we have a small squad but apart from a couple of possible loans that will be it - there is no money to spend. I guarantee you that if we win Saturday the moaners will be silent at least for now. Are all teams fans like ours? Probably. Lay off them.

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warktheline added 09:09 - Jan 15 There are more questions than answers after last two performances! Millwall game will provide the answers, watch this space.
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Gazelle added 09:29 - Jan 15 I'd have Chambo in Tommy's place with Parr at right back. Playing on the right side of the back two Tommy is vulnerable with no right foot.
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GavITFC added 09:49 - Jan 15 Some of you need a reality check, southampton are flying and we held our own against them. I for one am proud of the lads and the fans that came and supported the team. F*** the cup we're going up!
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brittaniaman added 09:53 - Jan 15 If only MM had the money that Dark Lord !! and jewellio !! WASTED ??? I am sure that we would have had some quality in our team now!!!!! I am not knocking the present team, because they have had an excellent run so far this season, but they are an Energy team and it is a hard job to keep up this pace all season 2 dominating midfielders would be very nice thank you because lately our midfield has been over run !!!!!!!!!!!!

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