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Southampton boss Russell Martin has praised Joe Aribo for his recent performances for the Saints in the English Championship division as they eye a return to the Premier League, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Aribo has put in solid performances in recent games for the Saints, who are on a four-match unbeaten run and are fourth in the English second-tier, three points behind Leeds United, although Southampton have a game in hand.
The Nigeria international stood out in their 2-1 victory against Coventry where he created both goals, and played 90 minutes in their 3-2 win over Watford, including completing the most passes in the 3-0 win over Preston on Tuesday and these results have drawn Southampton closer to the automatic promotion spots.
Aribo controlled the midfield, constantly going for the ball and progressing play up field quickly in the first two games during Stuart Armstrong’s absence.
Armstrong was part of the squad for the 3-0 rout over Preston, where he made his return but Aribo retained his spot in the first team.
The opposition struggled to stop Aribo from causing problems, resulting in him getting fouled 11 times across these fixtures, more than any other player.
Asked for his verdict on Aribo’s performances, coach Martin said, “He has been excellent. He hasn’t played a huge amount of minutes since he came back from the AFCON but he has been excellent.
“It was a huge amount of minutes for him in the last few games. Joe is a top player. It took him a while when he got back because he hadn’t played for three or four weeks at AFCON. He had a brilliant tournament with some fantastic experiences, but he came back and took a while to get back up to speed.”
Aribo has played 1,314 minutes across 31 appearances in all competitions for Saints this season, scoring three times.
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