Adkins confident of Southampton response

Southampton manager Nigel Adkins has backed his side to bounce back from a 4-1 battering at the hands of West Ham last Saturday.

With Tottenham due to visit St Mary’s this weekend, Adkins is hopeful that his side can turn things around and pick up some points after a slow start to their Premier League campaign.

“Training has been good this week,” Adkins told the official club website. “The lads have responded in the right way which is important. There is a positivity about ourselves, which is vital and we are all looking forward to the game at the weekend.

“We are going to have a full house here at St Mary’s on Sunday, which is going to be great because the supporters make a lot of noise both at home and away.

“The players know that we have to go out and entertain them, play good football and show passion for the football club. We will keep grafting away for them.”

Although Adkins is happy with the rate at which his team are finding the back of the net, he admits there is cause for concern at the back, having watched his side concede a record 24 goals in eight games already this season.

He added: “We are scoring goals which is a massive positive, but we have to win as well. Some of the defeats have come about from goals that we could have done better with collectively, but we as a team will work hard for each other.

“Scoring goals gives us the confidence to go into games thinking we can win. And we aren’t the only club to be conceding goals – Manchester City have been conceding more goals this season than last and they are at the top of the table.

“We can only address our problems by working hard on the training ground and keeping a positivity with the players. We have had a really good week of training and go into the game on Sunday full of confidence and belief.”