WESLEY Hoedt was pleased to make his Saints debut in the 2-0 defeat to Watford at St Mary’s – but admits everyone must “look in the mirror” after a disappointing first loss of the campaign.

The central defender, who switched to Saints in a £15m deal from Lazio last month, was handed his first appearance, after Mauricio Pellegrino decided he was fresher than Maya Yoshida after international duties.

The Dutchman said: “It wasn’t good enough. We didn’t win the second ball and that’s why they won the game.

“I’m happy that I could play but it’s more important that we start winning.”

He added: “We should have done better but I think everybody, including me, has to look in the mirror and see what we can do better and start winning against Crystal Palace.”

The 23-year-old admits that Saints committed to too many long passes against the Hornets, who secured a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and substitute Daryl Janmaat.

It is a style that Pellegrino wants to wean Saints off, according to the Netherlands international.

He said: “It’s pretty clear what he wants. We need to get the ball down more and not play the long passes. That’s something we did wrong today.”

“I’ve been here only a few days but I think it’s really clear what we want to do, only we have to just do a way better performance than we did today,” he added.

Getting the ball down and playing is something Hoedt believes suits his game. The former AZ Alkmaar man demonstrated that he was composed and comfortable on the ball against Watford, despite the result.

He said: “For sure. I have to find my way in the team, so that’s something I can improve on but that’s my style of play and I can be important for this team. What we showed today was not good enough.”

So what did he make of the Premier League?

“It’s pretty much the same as the Italian league and also today they didn’t have a lot of chances but they scored two goals. That’s pretty similar to Italy,” he said.