MAYA Yoshida has urged Saints to quickly forget their FA Cup semi-final defeat and focus their minds back on their Premier League survival battle.

Mark Hughes’ side are four points adrift of safety with four games to play and face south coast neighbours AFC Bournemouth in a crucial game for their hopes at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Saints lost 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday, ending all other distractions and leaving them with one sole focus: beating the drop.

Yoshida said: “We all know about the game against Bournemouth. It’s going to be crucial for us. We have to make sure we get three points.

“It’s a home game and a derby, we have to fight to stay in the Premier League. We’ve finished with the FA Cup and now we must focus on the Premier League and staying up.

“We need a good rest and get ready to put in a performance.”

After Bournemouth, Saints face Everton, Swansea and Manchester City in their final run-in.

Realistically, to stand any chance of avoiding Championship football next season, they will have to win three of those.

It means, having won five league games all term, Saints have to win three in a row now – something which just looks beyond them right now.

Of course, Eddie Howe’s side are virtually safe from the drop themselves in the top-flight but are said to be full of motivation over the invitation to sink their neighbours.

“Totally, we must focus on the game against Bournemouth. Of course we wanted to go to the cup final but now it’s over so 100 per cent our concentration is on the Premier League,” Yoshida said.

The Chelsea game already seems like a distant memory, with Saints’ players and manager Hughes, keen not to dwell too much on the cup exit.

Despite his eagerness to move on from the Wembley defeat, Yoshida was still kicking himself over the 2-0 loss, which saw Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata’s goals settle the last four tie in the second-half.

“To be honest, they were much better than us,” the centre-back said.

“We tried to play really defensive, In the first-half we did well, but the second we didn’t switch on and we conceded.

“After that it’s really difficult against a team like Chelsea. We had to get the ball forward. The first goal made it really difficult.”

He continued: “We needed to score but also have to defend better. The first goal was really sloppy and the second goal we changed the shape. It was a totally free cross and it’s difficult in the box against Morata.

“We need to play better.”