Daily Echo:

SAINTS will attempt to end a miserable 16-month run at St Mary’s this weekend.

The last time the won a competitive home game on a Saturday was when Ronald Koeman was in charge, when Saints defeated Newcastle United 3-1 on April 9, 2016.

That day Shane Long, Graziano Pelle and Victor Wanyama were on target.

But ten games later - and just four goals scored and 15 conceded - Saints have yet to triumph again at St Mary’s on a Saturday in all competitions.

Saints went the entire duration of the Claude Puel era without a win at home on a Saturday afternoon - a jinx that Mauricio Pellegrino must now attempt to bury.

The 0-0 draw against Swansea last Saturday was Saints’ sixth draw of those ten games, with the other four defeats.

It’s also now a record six home league games that Saints have failed to score in - 545 minutes in total.

A Premier League high on the opening weekend, Saints hit 29 shots against the Swans - but only two of those efforts were on target.

Manolo Gabbiadini struck all five of his efforts off target, while James Ward-Prowse, Maya Yoshida, Nathan Redmond and Dusan Tadic all had four efforts.

Ward-Prowse and Tadic were the only two players to register a shot on target.

Since Ward-Prowse struck in the 85th minute of a 3-1 over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, April 5 - their last competitive home goal - Saints have hit 94 shots in total, with 20 of them on target.

But none of them have ended up in the back of the net.

The signs are positive, though, as Saints prepare to try an end this barren run on Saturday when West Ham United come to St Mary’s.

Saints demonstrated far more willingness and aggression to attack against Swansea and they scarcely could have done more to get that elusive goal.

The 29 efforts they did take were the most they have produced in this six-game drought, with the previous high the 17 shots they took in the goalless draw against Manchester United in the penultimate game of last season.

And having seen United dismantle the Hammers 4-0 at Old Trafford - with some shambolic defending a feature of that - Saints might feel confident they can finally stick one in the net.

Pellegrino is more than aware of the problem and wants his side to just keep plugging away at it.

“That’s football - we have to keep going, and if we do, we’ll definitely improve in that area,” he said.

“We played the way we felt we had to play - we controlled the game, we controlled the opponent, especially in the second half.

“We didn’t concede any counter-attacks. I think we produced a good performance, but in football you have to put the ball in the net. And we have to keep going.”