Ralph Hasenhuttl has urged Saints not to dwell on their defeat at Cardiff.

With Hasenhuttl arriving on the crest of a wave at St Mary’s, a 1-0 loss at Cardiff was far from the bounce factor the club and the fans were hoping for.

The team seem to be plagued by a lack of confidence and keep making individual errors which are proving so costly.

It is going to be a tough task for Hasenhuttl to turn things around, but he insists the squad must focus on the future to make it happen.

He said: “Confidence comes with good results. A 1-0 here is not a good result.

“We should prepare them and they have to believe in what we are doing.

“I saw today they do it for a very long time and then it would be perfect if you get some good results for the self-confidence.

“We didn’t and we have to work on and when we work on I am sure they will come.”

Saints are proving to be masters of their downfall with some significant mistakes costing them dearly.

This time out it was Jannik Vestergaard’s whose awful pass played in Callum Paterson for the only goal of the game.

“It is all about staying focussed and physically a question,” reflected Hasenhuttl.

“It’s intense and at the end of the game when you get a little bit tired it is more important to stay focused on holding it easy and not make it too difficult.

“This ball was not really difficult I think and Jannik is very disappointed about that.

“It’s gone, the points are gone, and now we have to focus on the next exercises we have.”

He added: “I only said a few words to the group.

“I think the mentality was ok and the support from the fans was fantastic because they feel exactly what situation we are in at the moment and see the team is trying to get out of this and invested a lot but it’s not enough at the moment.

“Two situations where maybe we can get a penalty for us doesn’t happen. I don’t know if it was one or not. From my position it can be and that would have helped us a lot I think. “Maybe next week the luck comes back.”