MANAGER Ruben Selles likened his training style to “a circle,” and admitted that he has not placed additional focus on attacking in sessions following the defeat to Grimsby Town.

The head coach said that he has been careful when finding a balance on the training pitch, being cautious not to pay too much attention to just one element of his wider gameplan.

Saints have scored just two goals from open play in the Premier League since November 6, and the club has had three first team managers in that time period.

They have netted just twice in their last five league fixtures and are the fourth lowest scorers in the division – with just 19 so far this season.

Asked on if there has been any extra focus on offensive play due to the lack of goals, Selles
said: “We have been focusing our training on the last third, but we also focus on how to defend in certain situations.

“We always try to find the balance - we don’t only focus on one part of the game that we want to develop, we focus on developing the whole game.”

The manager continued: “As much as we don’t want to concede goals, we need to score goals. For me, the game is like a circle. It just continues.

“You attack, you defend, you transition, so if I make the imbalance and put too much focus on one thing, you forget another solution.

“Not just in one training (session), or one week or one month, I need to find the balance. So there isn’t a special focus (on attacking), but there is definitely a focus.”

Saints have scored two goals in three games under the Spaniard - including a James Ward- Prowse free-kick to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which came before Selles was appointed as the permanent head coach.

He has managed just two games after being promoted from interim boss, and when asked if the team is close to embodying his style of football, he said: “I hope so.

“I think we saw some of the behaviours and some parts of the game, and I expect tomorrow to repeat a lot more of these behaviours.”