Southampton were denied a third Championship victory in a row at the death away at Watford on Saturday, Rhys Healey’s last-gasp goal snatching a share of the points in a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road.
Russell Martin’s Saints dominated the possession in the contest – keeping 60% of the ball against Valerien Ismael’s side – but they couldn’t quite muster up a game-clinching second goal which allowed the hosts a way back into the game.
Southampton’s top scorer in the league Adam Armstrong couldn’t add another goal to his tally in this contest, setting up Che Adams to net the opener instead before Healey then dramatically equalised.
Adams did step up to the mark at Vicarage Road on this occasion – the ex Birmingham City man hammering an effort home after Armstrong teed him up – but the Saints lack another reliable prolific figure away from their star number nine up top.
Adams has found the back of the net four times this season, but there’s now a former Southampton striker plying his trade in League Two who is outscoring the Scottish Saints man.
That figure is Charlie Austin, who was formerly in the Saints ranks himself during their Premier League hey-day.
Why Southampton signed Charlie Austin
Southampton signed Austin from QPR back in 2016, securing the signature of the sharp-shooter for £4m.
This was a reasonable price to pay at the time to win Austin’s services, with the 6 foot 2 striker scoring 18 times for the Hoops during the 2014-15 campaign in the Premier League before switching to St Mary’s.
That rich vein of goalscoring form for the west London side even saw him win a call-up to the England international squad, the Saints excited by the prospect of what Austin could offer on the South Coast after the signing was announced.
Charlie Austin’s statistics at Southampton
Austin would go on to score a somewhat underwhelming 20 goals however for the Saints, only netting two times in his final season in the top-flight for the club.
The ex-QPR man’s time at St Mary’s is remembered more for his fiery rant after a draw at home to Watford in 2018 however, explosively calling the match officials out after one of his strikes in the game was dubiously ruled out owing to a VAR intervention.
Austin would later be moved on to West Brom after a hot-and-cold four season stay on the South Coast, even reuniting with former club Swindon Town further down the line as his career begins to wind down.
Charlie Austin’s numbers since leaving Southampton
The now 34-year-old has played for a whole host of clubs since leaving the Saints, plying his trade for the Baggies and old club QPR again whilst even relocating to far-out Brisbane Roar for a solitary season.
It’s at Swindon Town however where Austin has recaptured his best goalscoring form and solidified his presence as a feared EFL striker – rejoining the club where his fledgling career first catapulted into stardom back in 2009 last year.
In his first season back at the County Ground, Austin netted nine goals in League Two action with four of those astoundingly coming in one match against Rochdale.
This campaign alone, the veteran EFL forward hasn’t shown signs of slowing down with ten goal contributions in total with an even split of five goals and five assists.
In contrast, Che Adams comes in with a slightly lesser four goals and two assists this season as Martin’s back-up option at Southampton.
Austin will just hope he can continue seeing out his career in style with the Robins for now, whilst Martin at St Mary’s will look to next month’s transfer window as a perfect opportunity to add a new striker to the Saints ranks to help share out the goal load better.
