Rickie Lambert, Lee Barnard, Jason Puncheon, Dean Hammond and substitute Papa Waigo made a mockery of a Huddersfield defence who before last night had been one of the most miserly in League One.

Clark said: "I am angry, embarrassed, I do not want to put my name to that performance but I am the manager and I take responsibility. However, I cannot accept that. I can only apologise to the fans because that was not worthy of their support.

"How we respond to that will tell me a lot about the players. We will certainly watch a DVD of that – it will be a horror show."

Lambert headed in from Puncheon's cross to put Saints ahead and Town went two down when Barnard converted Hammond's centre. Puncheon added a third.

After the break Hammond ducked in at the near post to head in Puncheon's corner before Waigo waltzed through.

Southampton: Davis; Otsemobor, Fonte, Jaidi (Seaborne 81), Harding; Puncheon, Hammond, Schneiderlin, Lallana; Lambert (Oxlade-Chamberlain 88), Barnard (Waigo 79). Unused substitutes: Bialkowski, Thomas, Wotton, Antonio.

Huddersfield Town: Smithies; T Clarke, Trotman, P Clarke, Heffernan (Pearce 46); Kay, Drinkwater, Pilkington, Roberts (Eccleston 56); Novak (Robinson 65), Rhodes. Unused substitutes: Eastwood, Collins, N Clarke, Simpson.

Referee: Pat Miller (Bedfordshire).

Dean Hoyle has finally completing his takeover of Huddersfield Town, completing his acquistion of the shares held by former chairman Ken Davy and vice-chairman Andrew Watson.

However, he awaits consent from Kirklees Council to acquire a 40 per cent stake in Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd (KSDL), the company which owns the stadium.