#PLStories- Southampton ace Romain Perraud admits team ‘lost confidence’ before managerial change #SAINTSFC

SAINTS defender Romain Perraud conceded the squad “lost confidence” before the break and admits Nathan Jones’s focus has been to restore belief. The St Mary’s side had won just one Premier League match since August before the division was paused for the World Cup in Qatar. They had been battered and bruised with injuries to key players and missed chances saw Saints fall further down the table, now sitting second from bottom. The run of five points in their last 10 is marked by the sacking of manager Ralph Hasenhuttl last month, with Jones coming in for the defeat at Liverpool. Asked what the difference between Hasenhuttl and the Welshman has been so far, Perraud responded: “Firstly, there is not the same identity to play but you have to respect all of the different identities and way of playing. “The new gaffer has arrived with a clear message, trying to help us to compete in the Premier League, because we have a young team.” Speaking from the winter training camp in Spain, he added: “He’s trying to give us confidence and we can say that we lost a little bit of confidence before the break. “He’s here to be positive and the squad tried to answer in the best way. We can see the intensity in training, it’s very nice to watch.” Jones will take charge of his team for the first time at St Mary’s in the EFL Cup versus Lincoln City on Wednesday, December 21, before hosting Brighton on Boxing Day in the Premier League.   A message from the Editor Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support in reading the Daily Echo. Subscribing to the Echo means you have unrestricted access to the latest news, features and Saints coverage - all with an advertising-light website. You will also have full access to Saintsplus, your new home for Southampton FC tactical analysis, features and much, much more.