Daily Echo:

Mauricio Pellegrino has backed Fraser Forster to shine for Saints despite the mistake that cost his team a first pre-season win.

Forster, who last week penned a new five-year deal at the club, let a tame cross squirm through his grasp to hand Brentford a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Griffin Park.

The England stopper also suffered some patchy form last season, but Pellegrino gave him his full support.

He said: “Football is a mistake game, with a lot of mistakes. Every signal action has a lot of mistakes.

“Fraser for me is an excellent goalkeeper.

“We are lucky because we make mistakes in this type of game.”

Pellegrino’s first game on English soil was notable for a quick-fire brace from Charlie Austin, who proved he is well and truly over the injury problems that ruined the second half of last season for him.

Austin is a fan’s favourite but needs goals to keep his place with Manolo Gabbiadini, Shane Long and Sam Gallagher all also competing for the one frontline striker role.

“When you see players that are ready to give his performance on the pitch it is easy for the manager and it is easy for the club,” said Pellegrino.

“When you see everybody that is fighting to be on the pitch and this competition against them is better for me because everybody wants to be involved and we have to try to keep that fight between the players to be on the level for starting.

“It is a difficult position because we have got competition, but they have to be as good as possible because the club needs all of them, the manager needs all of them.

“It is not important about just one but about everybody.”

Pellegrino feels he can see signs of progress three weeks before the big Premier League kick-off.

He said: “It was a good game, for me good preparation because some players were playing 65-70 minutes.

“We played Wednesday, we were working Thursday and Friday normally, and I knew that maybe there were some players not with fresh legs.

“We had a good dynamic to try to do the aspect we were working on in the week.”

Pellegrino will today lead his squad on a training camp in France where they will work further on his ideas.

“There are some aspects we are doing a little bit better than the first week,” he reflected.

“There is other aspects like the tempo of the game or trying to control the game when we are winning and some aspects that will improve when everybody will be involved and everybody feels in his legs a bit fresher.

“Now when you are a little bit tired you don’t have clear ideas to think on the pitch, and this is something that maybe will happen in the next few weeks.”