Premier League football may have returned to St Mary's, but Russell Martin was, yet again, left frustrated after failing to get anything from the game for the second week on the bounce, with Nottingham Forest winning courtesy of a singular Morgan Gibbs-White goal.
Martin's side dominated possession but failed to test Matz Sels between the sticks for the away side, with the Saints ending the game with just one shot on target.
As for Forest, they had 23 shots and eight on target, but their goal came via set-piece after Southampton failed to clear their lines on multiple occasions, something that left the Saints boss furious.
Speaking to the Daily Echo after the defeat, Martin said: "Ultimately, we conceded from a rubbish set-piece. We shouldn't have given the ball away for the corner in the first place.
"We had a chance to secure the ball in the moment when we were so on top and we got to grips with the game brilliantly, and started to cause them real problems.
"Then we give them a corner and we have a chance to clear it inside the box and we don't. I don't know what goes on after that, I need to watch it back.
"It's not good enough for how much work we do on set-plays so I'm annoyed at that."
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"We didn't start the game well."
Southampton really struggled in the opening exchanges of the game and Nottingham Forest, surprisingly, dominated the ball.
They finished the half with just one shot on target and were lucky not to be a goal behind after Forest's new signing Nikola Milenković missed a sitter on his debut, but this is something Martin recognised.
He said: "First half I was frustrated with the performance, but I understand it. I've been there - the eagerness to really show what you can do in the first game back, there's a bit of tension.
"We didn't start the game well, and then we tried to make up for that by really forcing the ball and really trying to impose ourselves on the game, which is a really good mentality, but we didn't do enough to make them work or to open up the gaps.
"We turned the ball over a lot - way too much for us. They're a big threat on the transition, with real quality at the top end of the pitch. Even in the Premier League, what they have is really top quality.
"Second half we were good. We were so one top, we were in control and we had the ball in their final third, but it needs to come in terms of more chances.
"That's about mentality and quality, and really believing you can go and do that. There wasn't quite enough of that today, and that's probably a hangover from Newcastle and the frustration of it."
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Proud of his players
For the second week in a row, but in particular against Newcastle, the Saints showed high performance levels but came away with nothing.
The hard-work is there, the possession is there, but the killer instinct in the final third is still yet to arrive.
Martins acknowledged this, but believes that it is just a matter of when, and not if.
"It's just that next bit now - the next level of intensity and mentality," he added.
"They are fighting hard and they're running hard. You can see that. They're giving us everything, we just need a little bit more around the final third and I'm sure we'll get that.
"We don't possess the quality Forest have, or the power at the top end of the pitch, so we have to do it in a different way.
"We need people literally giving everything they've got to make the goal. We've got too many players watching the ball, so you need to go and make that happen."
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Praise for Tyler Dibling
For the second consecutive game, Martin looked to the youth when making a substitution, with 18-year-old Tyler Dibling featuring with 10 minutes to spare.
Despite such a short cameo, his manager was full of praise, saying to the Daily Echo: "Tyler was brilliant. He was our biggest attacking threat. He was on the pitch for 15 minutes and he's 18.
"We need a bit more of that mentality, that freedom to go and create, but he's a really special talent."
