Nigel Adkins insists Saints are “in a good place” at the moment despite their four-match unbeaten run coming to an end at Liverpool.

The Saints boss, facing his boyhood idols for the first time, changed tactics for the game at Anfield, ditching his side’s normal attacking style for a much more defensive minded approach.

The plan was to stay in the game until the final stages and then try to grab something.

Despite being battered in the first half Saints managed to get to the final stages just one goal down but didn’t create a chance in the entire game and so ended up 1-0 losers.

It brought to an end a good recent run of form but Adkins was taking the positives.

“We’re in a good place as a team at this moment in time which is important,” he said.

“We’ve got a stability in team selection and we’ve played some really good football of late and created lots of opportunities.

“Obviously we’re disappointed in respect that we haven’t got anything from the game.

“We’ve come away from home on a good run of form of late and I think it’s fair to say that Liverpool’s movement was very good and we couldn’t get a grip of the football.

Full report and the rest of the analysis of Saturday's match in today's Daily Echo