Mauricio Pellegrino insists that Fraser Forster retains his full confidence and will continue to be Saints’ number one keeper.

The 29-year-old stopper has come under fire for the two goals Saints conceded in their St Mary’s draw with Newcastle last weekend.

The criticism comes at a time when Forster seemed to be regaining his belief after an up and down start to the season that has also seen him dropped from the England squad and later recalled.

Pellegrino, though, has no doubts that Forster is his number one.

“For sure. The goalkeeper needs the confidence,” said the Saints boss.

“All my players when I choose them have my confidence.

“I have confidence in a lot of players but I have to choose 11.”

The only real challenge to Forster’s position comes from Alex McCarthy, but he is viewed as more of a back-up option at this stage rather than a potential first choice.

Pellegrino sympathised with the difficulty of the goalkeeper’s position, where mistakes are often remembered far more than stellar displays, and believes that Forster has not suddenly become a bad player having been backed for an England recall just weeks ago.

“I think in this week he was really good, but three games ago or four games ago everybody was talking about he has to come back to the national team and he is one of the best goalkeepers in England,” he said.

“I have got the same opinion. Fraser is a really good goalkeeper.

“The position of goalkeeper is always exposed in this type of situation, but nobody remembers the good situations, always when you make a couple of mistakes everybody will talk about this.

“This is part of our job, it is part of Fraser’s job.

“The important thing is how you react to this situation, how you achieve this moment.

“Fraser is a guy with personality, the position of the goalkeeper is really difficult because they are always alone. The teammates sometimes have another alongside.

“The mentality of the goalkeeper has to be always 100 per cent, and sometimes they are not and that is part of the profession.”