Mauricio Pellegrino admitted Saints’ 1-0 defeat to Burnley was a “painful” result, but defended his side against accusations their performance was below par.

Saints were booed from the pitch after the loss, which came courtesy of a goal nine minutes from Southampton fan Sam Vokes with Burnley’s only shot on target.

Pellegrino was also targeted for jeers from unhappy supporters as he went down the tunnel after the loss at St Mary’s.

However, he insisted his team had played well.

“The fans feel the same that we feel,” he said.

“I repeat it was a painful day for us because we deserve more, we did everything with energy, we ran together, we play together and we play good football too.

“Obviously I imagine our fans are disappointed like this, but our fans also know that we play a good game because football is not about arguments, it’s about emotion and it’s difficult to talk about football when you lose.

“When you lose you want to kill everybody and this part of our life.”

He added: “I think that we play well and we play much better than Burnley but in the only aspect that Burnley was better than us was converting and accuracy and efficiency.

“The most important part of the game is the most important moment of the game and this is part of our job and part of our sport.”

The loss meant it was just five points collected from the last five matches, all of which looked winnable on paper.

“We have five points and obviously when we talk about the points they don’t show exactly what happened on the pitch but we survive,” admitted Pellegrino.

“We need points to try to be better on the table.

“We have to use this game as a reference to keep going and playing in our way because I think I see the spirit on the team before the game, on the pitch, off the pitch, really good and I can’t say nothing about our attitude.”

Reflecting on the game he added: “It is part of our job. Sometimes you are better than the opponent in all different aspects of the game except converting chances like today.

“I think the only one on target they convert.

“They were better in this aspect, ok, and it’s really painful because I think we did everything to try to get something more against a good side and I think we played a good game.

“In general, and I repeat, in defence, with the ball, in movement we create chances.

“Our football, our job, is something that is unpredictable, something that is amazing and painful at the same time.”