ROCK-SOLID TOWN CONTINUE TO ENJOY LIFE AT THE TOP

Substitutes Kasey Palmer real livewire for Town after his introduction - 8 Danny Williams Added extra bite in the middle of the park on his arrival - 8 Collin Quaner -Didn’t have enough time to make an impact - NA TOWN’S impressive start to their inaugural Premier League campaign continued with an entertaining scoreless draw against Southampton at the John Smith’s Stadium.

After back-to-back wins over Crystal Palace and Newcastle United, this encounter was a litmus test of Town’s top-flight credibility. Encouragingly, they passed.

Of course, a win would have been the perfect result, but the fact David Wagner’s men dominated for large periods will leave the German more than satisfied going into the international break.

It was little surprise Wagner kept faith with the line-up that impressed in the win over Newcastle United.

It meant there was no room for new signings, attacking midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri and full-back Florent Hadergjonaj, with Tommy Smith captaining the side, Tom Ince starting through the middle and Rajiv van La Parra on the left.

Jonathan Hogg (ankle), Martin Cranie (hip flexor), Nahki Wells (ankle) and Jon Gorenc Stankovic (knee) were also still unavailable through injury.

Played in front of a boisterous crowd, it was a frenetic start to the game but, despite the early momentum, it was the visitors who should have opened the scoring in the 11th minute.

Saints captain Steven Davis found himself in acres of space and expertly put Nathan Redmond through one-on-one with Town stopper Jonas Lossl, only for his low effort to curl wide of the keeper’s left hand post.

And despite the end-to-end opening, Town had to wait until the 18th minute for their first real chance. When it did arrive, though, the decibels inside the stadium raised another seemingly impossible notch as the home fans got right behind their side.

A Van La Parra ball into the box sent the Saints defence into disarray and, with the goal at his mercy, Elias Kachunga was denied by a last-ditch block from Maya Yoshida before keeper Fraser Forster foiled Steve Mounie seconds later.

The home side had the bit between their teeth and a quick break from a Southampton corner saw Lossl release Kachunga and, after escaping his marker, the forward found Van La Parra in the box but, this time, Davis was on hand to deny the Dutchman with an excellent recovery tackle.