Mark Hughes admitted he was bitterly disappointed by Saints’ 3-0 defeat to West Ham, describing some of his side’s errors as “catastrophic.”

Hughes has been given the difficult task of saving Saints from their relegation trouble with games fast ticking by, and had an insight into the problems he faces as the team meekly surrendered to a heavy loss at the London Stadium.

It was about as poor a display as Saints have produced this season, and Hughes was clearly unimpressed.

When asked if he was disappointed, Hughes replied: “To say the least.

“It wasn’t what we anticipated in terms of a performance and not the level that will enable you to win game at this level unfortunately.

“We conceded three very poor goals in fairness, at times catastrophic errors which have been prevalent for quite some time which is why we find ourselves in this situation unfortunately.

“Clearly we need to do something about it, we need to address it, we need to understand why it is happening and be better next time out.

“We didn’t really give West Ham a game today. Not what was intended or what we needed to do to affect a West Ham side who were able to win the game comfortably because we gave them an easy start unfortunately.”