The Southampton goal record makes bleak reading. Just three all season, one of those an own-goal in defeat at Tottenham, another a dodgy penalty that beat Everton.

It called for drastic measures especially as Saints dropped into the Premiership’s bottom three after Newcastle’s midday shoot-out win over Sunderland. So manager Gordon Strachan rung the changes, dropping striker James Beattie, skipper Jason Dodd and midfielder Anders Svensson.

Yet it was the same old story when the fat lady of St Mary’s finally broke the tedium of a long afternoon on the South Coast by opening her lungs to sing the last rites over this dismal spectacle.

There was the inevitable outcry and calls of “rubbish, Strachan” but the estimable Gordon had had also changed his goalkeepers for this game, bringing in £2million Finn Antti Niemi for his debut after Paul Jones dropped West Bromwich Albion’s streaky winner at the Hawthorns last week.

And in the end it was one of the few moves he had to celebrate.

Niemi, former Hearts star, athletically kept out a Claus Jensen free-kick just before half-time and dived on a daisy-cutting shot by Chris Bart-Williams 12 minutes from time – Charlton’s only real noteworthy efforts until substitute Kevin Lisbie’s header from a corner tested Niemi’s reflexes again right at the death.

Saints, with a much-changed line-up that boss Strachan hoped would improve performance at both ends of the pitch, could not be faulted for endeavour especially in midfield where Rory Delap, Matt Oakley and Chris Marsden were ever-willing runners.

Wayne Bridge and Fabrice Fernandes supplied what craft there was to go with the graft, the Frenchman crossing regularly and with pace and guile from both flanks.

But Southampton, despite a mountain of possession, rarely created clear-cut opportunities for their new-look strike-force, in which Jo Tessem made his first start of the season – with distinctly mixed fortunes.

Marian Pahars ballooned an early half-chance over the bar, a feat that Marsden soon copied after Charlton dithered over dealing with Delap’s long throw.

But Claus Lundekvam wasted the best opening after a marvellous free kick move which was characterised by Pahars’ nimble header. The big centre back arrived perfectly at the back post behind the stranded Richard Rufus and Jon Fortune but screwed his volley horribly wide.

It was another 20 minutes before dominant Saints could muster anything like as promising but this time when Tessem got a firm header to Fernandes’s curled-in corner, Chris Powell popped up on the line to save the Addicks with a cool nod of the head.

There was a brief Southampton appeal that the ball had already crossed the line but they would have been outraged with referee Phil Dowd had not Niemi made a breathtaking save in the closing seconds of first-half injury-time.

Charlton were lucky to get a free-kick when Paul Williams merely stood his ground as Jason Euell ploughed through. And when Claus Jensen curled an impressive set-piece effort from 30 yards, the big blond Finn took off to his right and clawed it away for a corner.

Pahars stabbed over again, Tessem might have bundled the ball home with a bit more determination after a mistake by Luke Young which keeper Dean Kiely did well to cover, and Rufus made a great arrest on the tall, former policeman when Tessem was set to power in a shot from Oakley’s flick to the edge of the area.

But despite building up plenty of pressure, Saints strikers were feeding on crumbs.

And although Charlton themselves looked hardly a force, they grew more confident in the closing stages and at last fired a few shots on target.

They have now taken seven points from four away games and that’s down to the stickability of defensive stars like Rufus and Fortune who were excellent again even allowing for the tame threat Saints managed to raise.