Ruben Selles vows to keep fighting despite Southampton’s looming relegation

Southampton boss Ruben Selles admits it is getting more difficult to motivate players as relegation looms, but stressed everyone will continue to fight until the end of the season.

A 4-3 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Monday left the Saints on the brink of relegation, eight points adrift of safety at the bottom with just three games left.

A return to the Sky Bet Championship for the first time in since 2012 will be confirmed if Southampton fail to beat Fulham on Saturday or results elsewhere over the weekend go against them.

Despite the bleak outlook on the back of a 10-game winless run, Selles insists there is a determination to get the best possible results.

“It is our job and our privilege to fight until the very last minute and that is what we are going to do,” the Southampton boss said.

“We know it (relegation) is very close, but we still have our chances, it is not mathematically there.

“It is getting harder, of course, because the situation is not helping and it has been a tough week for us.

“We put all we have in against Nottingham Forest and we didn’t get the result that we wanted.

“Always when you get hit like that it is difficult to go to work the day after and to be super motivated, but I think we are in a good place that we can go tomorrow to compete and try to win the game.”

Selles accepts Saints could struggle to keep hold of key men like captain James Ward-Prowse in the Championship, but feels things are in place to be strong contenders for a swift promotion.

“I think the club has everything to bounce back very quick and be in the Premier League (again) the year after,” he said.

“We have our stadium with our fans that will support us, we have the organisation inside, the technical staff, the players and the future players, if it happens, that can help.

“We have a good structure with values, with philosophy and then it is just to put the things in place to go to the next chapter.”

Selles added at a press conference: “If we go to the Championship, of course we have players that the other teams in the Premier League will come and look for.

“It is not always easy to keep them for different reasons, in terms of budget or motivation for the player, so it is going to be (done on) a very individual case.”

Spanish coach Selles, who took over from Nathan Jones in mid-February on a deal until the end of the season, would like to stay and help the club rebuild.

“It is not for me to decide, but I would like to carry on in the Championship and bounce back to the Premier League in the year after,” he said.

“But right now we are just focusing on our daily job and trying to get the team being competitive tomorrow, and then we will talk about it if we need to talk about it at the end of the season.”