'We need to pull our finger out'
Southampton striker Charlie Austin says that the 'Saints' need to start picking up points and quickly if there are to remain a Prmeier League club into next season.
Mark Hughes' side crashed to a 3-0 defeat to fellow strugglers West Ham on Saturday to leave them two points adrift of safety with just seven games of the season remaining.
To make matters worse, three of those seven games will come against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.
With that in mind, the former bricklayer is keen to see an upturn in Southampton's fortunes sooner rather than later.
"It just wasn't good enough, we need to pull our finger out and do it sharpish," he said of Saturday's defeat.
"There are seven games to go and we've given ourselves a mountain to climb.
"We've got to win fast and get out of the hole we're in.
"We're fortunate that results are half going our way, to keep everyone around it.
"We need the fans to believe we can get out of this mess. We have seven games to go now.
"That's what it comes down to and we need to put all our energy into that. I know it's hard to do after watching that performance but that's what we have to do.
"Come the end of the season, Southampton needs to be a Premier League club and we need to push in one direction."