Graziano Pelle insists Saints remain positive of qualifying for Europe after yesterday’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham.

The striker was a towering presence at St Mary’s, scoring both of his team’s goals, only to see each of them cancelled out by Spurs.

“For us, it was an important game,” said Pelle in an interview on Saints’ website.

“Personally, as a striker, it was important to get two goals for my team, but it’s always nicer if we win.

“We are a bit frustrated that we lost two points because they would have been really important for the rest of the season. We came here to win the game.”

Saints remain seventh in the table, and have now amassed a club record Premier League points total.

But they are still one point behind Spurs, with only the top six currently guaranteed a European place next season.

Their current position will be good enough for the Europa League if Arsenal beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup final, but Pelle is insistent they do not want to leave it to chance.

“Now we have to be positive until the end of the season,” he said. “We have to try to believe.

“There are still four games to go and a lot of points still, so we have to try to get the maximum result to get as high as possible.”