Southampton fans will be very relieved after the Saints record extraordinary stat against Wrexham

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For Southampton, it was a winning return to the Championship as they left it late to beat Wrexham 2-1 at St. Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.

Following three successive promotions, there are plenty of eyes on the Welsh outfit and their progression in the second tier, but few would have foreseen Phil Parkinson’s side taking the lead in Hampshire.

Josh Windass converted from the spot after just 22 minutes to send the away end into raptures, but Southampton continued to dominate the ball, with the post denying Jay Robinson an equaliser in the dying moments of the first-half.

However, a fantastic Ryan Manning free kick in the 90th minute saw Will Still’s side rip victory from Wrexham’s grasp before Jack Stephens netted a dramatic winner just six minutes later to hand his side all three points.

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Southampton have won the same number of games in 2025/26 as they did in 2024/25

Last season was desperate for Southampton. Aaron Ramsdale was ‘delighted’ that they reached 12 points in the Premier League, avoiding matching Derby County’s record points low of 11 in the process.

They won just two games all season, with only one of those coming at St. Mary’s. Therefore, they have already won the same number of matches on their own patch this season as they did in the last.

While not a monumental achievement, Luton Town showed how tough it can be to recover after relegation in 2024/25. Matt Bloomfield slammed his players as they went down to League One on the final day of the last campaign, although they are faring much better in the third tier.

However, for Southampton it was lift-off against a side that head into the new footballing year with plenty of confidence and momentum behind them.

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Will Still proved his worth against Wrexham

This is a fresh start and a brand new era for the Saints under the guidance of Still. While victory was never vital, it will help breathe confidence into his new team.

At times Southampton perhaps overplayed and maybe should have looked to have broken down Wrexham with a little bit more pace, but the Red Dragons were relatively strong defensively and played with a real discipline that took some time to break down.

However, their quality prevailed and Still should be very pleased with the way his players fought on until the end and did not panic about the situation.

There is still an incredible amount of time to go until the league starts to take shape, but more performances like that for Southampton will serve them well.