PAUL Warhurst returned to resume his holding role in the centre of the Wanderers midfield as Wanderers aimed to retain top spot in the Premiership.

As he had indicated with his pre-match comments, Sam Allardyce kept faith with the players who have started the season in such stunning fashion.

Warhurst, fit again after a neck problem, was the only change to the team that started at Leeds. He came in for the injured Gareth Farrelly, which meant not one member of the team that started the midweek Worthington Cup tie against Walsall made the first 11.

Ricardo Gardner, rested at Elland Road after his World Cup excursions with Jamaica, was given a place on the subs' bench alongside Dean Holdsworth, Nicky Southall and Akinori Nishizawa. But there was no place for Colin Hendry, who made his first appearance of the season against Walsall after recovering from a knee injury.

Southampton, without a point or a goal in their first three games, gave James Beattie his first Premiership start of the season after an impressive display in their Worthington Cup win at Brighton.

Chris Marsden passed a fitness test to earn a place on the bench but there was no place for Matt Le Tissier or Jason Dodd, two of the Saints' most experienced players, who have both been plagued by injuries.

Wanderers: Jaaskelainen, Barness, Bergsson, Whitlow, Charlton, Hansen, Frandsen, Warhurst, Nolan, Pedersen, Ricketts. Subs: Holdsworth, Gardner, Southall, Nishizawa, Banks.

Southampton: Jones, Bridge, Lundekvam, Richards, Oakley, Beattie, Davies, Svensson, Delap, El-Khalej, Tessem. Subs: Moss, Marsden, Benali, Pahars, McDonald.

Referee: David Pugh (Merseyside).

Wanderers were today drawn at home to First Division Nottingham Forest in the third round of the Worthington Cup.

15:47: WANDERERS 0 SOUTHAMPTON 0

Half-time

PER Frandsen led the charge but Wanderers found struggling Southampton in mean mood at the Reebok this afternoon.

The in-form Dane pulled the strings in midfield and went closest to opening the scoring with two trademark free kicks - hitting the post in the fifth minute and sending Paul Jones full length in the 16th, Fellow Dane, Henrik Pedersen, forced both set-pieces with surging runs which, along with the threat from Michael Ricketts, were the main areas of concern for the Saints' defence.

Ricketts missed a chance to add to his four-goal tally for the season when he failed to control a delightful Frandsen pass, which dropped over the head of Claus Lundekvam and would have left him with only Jones to beat.

Saints' responded well after resisting the early pressure and James Beattie was only just off target on 32 minutes when he slid in on the rain-sodden surface to meet Wayne Bridges' cross.

16:54: WANDERERS 0 SOUTHAMPTON 1

WANDERERS suffered their first Premiership defeat of the season when they went down to a goal from Southampton substitute, Marian Pahars, at the Reebok.

The Latvian international struck in the 77th minute, ending the Saints' three-match goal dought, after Wanderers had twice hit the post.

And to add to the disappointment, Sam Allardyce saw influential midfielder, Per Frandsen, limp off with an ankle injury five minutes into the second half.

Frandsen had pulled the strings in the first half and gone closest to scoring when he hit the post with a fifth minute free kick.

His fellow Dane, Bo Hansen, also hit the woodwork on 68 minutes as Wanderers tried everything they could to break the deadlock in what became a dour, rain-sodden encounter.

But it was the visitors, who arrived without a point or a goal to their name in the Premiership, who got the break when full-back Wayne Bridge made the opening with a blistering run on the left to lay on the chance which Pahars took with a clinical left-foot strike.

Wanderers: Jaaskelainen, Barness, Bergsson, Whitlow, Charlton, Hansen, Frandsen, Warhurst, Nolan, Pedersen, Ricketts. Subs: Southall for Frandsen 50

mins, Holdsworth for Ricketts 66 mins, Gardner for Nolan 78 mins. Not used: Nishizawa, Banks.

Southampton: Jones, Bridge, Lundekvam, Richards, Oakley, Beattie, Davies, Svensson, Delap, El-Khalej, Tessem. Subs: Pahars for El-Khalej 69 mins, Marsden

for Tessem 86 mins. Not used: Moss, Benali, McDonald.

Referee: David Pugh (Merseyside).

Attendance: 24,378.