Ruben Selles says his team will "fight for every point" in their bid to avoid relegation - starting at West Ham on Sunday afternoon.
Selles, who was installed as the Saints' third manager of the season last month brings his team to London seeking what would be only their sixth win of a thoroughly disappointing league campaign that has already led to the dismissal of Ralph Hasenhüttl and Nathan Jones.And while he refrained from predicting his team will avoid the drop, Selles promised supporters that his team will do everything within their power to avoid slipping into the Championship.
"I cannot say that [we will stay up], but I can say that we are alive and will fight for every point for the rest of the season," he told the media during his pre-match press conference.
"We are going to produce some performances for which they will be proud of us, as we have done in the last month-and-a-half.
"Hopefully we will stay in the Premier League and will not need to wait until the final day of the season to confirm that. I can say for sure that we are prepared for everything that is coming and that we will put our best into it."
And Selles pointed to Southampton's recent 3-3 draw with Tottenham - a game in which they trailed 3-1 at one stage - as an example of the spirit he claims to have engendered amongst the squad,
"Even though we were two goals down we stuck to the plan," he said. "Even with the finishers, with the substitutions, we stuck to the plan. We knew we were going to score goals.
"We have evaluated the last six weeks and with everyone back from the internationals we have also reviewed the Tottenham game. There are ups and downs when you are trying to build something but the points are there [for the taking], and I think we can get some more wins in the last 10 games."
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