The Saints relinquished a one-goal lead to lose 3-2 and their boss warned some players may be dropped if things don’t improve immediately.
Southampton Under-23s manager Radhi Jaidi has heavily criticised his side for the manner of their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Leeds United U23s on Monday night.
A crowd of close to 3,000 at the i2i Stadium in Tadcaster bore witness to an exciting Premier League Cup game, in which the hosts took the lead on nine minutes through an Aapo Halme header from an inswinging Tom Pearce corner.
Saints had to settle for a narrow deficit at the break but they improved after the restart as Jonathan Afolabi’s marauding run down the left culminated in a low cross which Josh Sims tapped home from close range.
The visitors then took the lead through Marcus Barnes, who picked the ball up out wide, drifted infield and let rip with a powerful effort into the far corner of the net that left debutant Whites goalkeeper Kiko Casilla stranded.
However, Leeds made the most of lacklustre defending at the back in the latter stages to not only restore parity, as Hugo Diaz scored from another corner, but to eventually win, with Ryan Edmondson prodding home late on.
Speaking to the official Southampton site after full time, Jaidi stressed that his side are past the level of conceding sloppy set-piece goals and must address the issues from the loss immediately, even threatening to drop players if things don’t improve.
“I’m really disappointed with the way we conceded goals tonight,” said Jaidi. “We’re past that level, in terms of conceding sloppy goals from set-plays. It’s something we must address and rectify immediately. Either we work to improve that aspect, or change the personnel if we need to.
“The way we conceded is a concern for me. I’m around the boys a lot, they have a huge amount of desire and will to do well in games. They’ve showed character tonight to come from behind, but we need to cut out individual mistakes.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
