Taylor Harwood-Bellis has urged Saints to show some “pride” after their new year got off to a disastrous start with a 5-0 defeat by Brentford.
Saints are still marooned at the foot of the Premier League, eight points behind Leicester in 19th after a seventh home loss from nine games.
“I didn’t see it coming,” defender Harwood-Bellis told the club website. “It’s upsetting that we went out and that happened. It’s not nice.
“It just didn’t feel like we were aggressive enough. It didn’t feel like we had that intensity that we’ve had in the last three games.
“It shows that when we do turn up with intensity and we are aggressive, we’re always in the game and that was nowhere near it.
“I think with some boys confidence might be low in there, but I actually don’t think it’s about confidence at the minute.
“I think it’s about digging in and grinding a result out or being aggressive; that’s not confidence. That’s just having your own pride, which the boys have.
“We do have it, which is why it’s such a hard one to take.”
Kevin Schade fired Brentford ahead in the sixth minute, but Saints stayed in the match until halftime. However, things unravelled after the break.
Bryan Mbeumo scored twice—the second a penalty—and Keane Lewis-Potter and Yoanne Wissa ran in late goals to wrap up a first away win of the season.
“The fans have been waiting for this for a while and seeing them happy is a great thing,” said Mbeumo.
