SAINTS legend Francis Benali insists under fire boss Mauricio Pellegrino will make a success of the St Mary’s job and remains confident of a good campaign.

The struggling manager saw his side booed off at the weekend after Saints’ miserable 1-0 defeat at home to Burnley.

That made it just two wins in seven games at home in the Premier League, 13 points from 11 games and it was clear the supporters had run out of patience after Saints continued to show few signs of progress under Pellegrino.

After a favourable opening fixture list, Saints now head in to a run of ten games which will see them face six of the Premier League’s big guns in November and December, starting at Liverpool a week Saturday.

“I’m happy with the appointment and think he’ll do a great job still,” said an optimistic Benali.

“Anyone would be honest to admit it would be nice to have more points on the board, given the way the fixture list has fallen,” he added.

“We’ve got some tough games coming up between now and Christmas. It’s a tough period looking at the fixtures.

“But I’m confident we’ve got the squad and the ability to pick points up and still do well and stay in the top half of the table.

“There are always games you look at you think ‘we could have done better here’ or ‘we should have won that’ but that’s football.

“It’s still a little bit work in progress but I’m confident we’ll have a good season still.”

Saints have struggled for goals this season, scoring just three goals from open play at St Mary’s in seven matches.

Benali believes that Saints “need to be braver” but is sure a couple of victories will give Saints the momentum and confidence they desperately need.

He said: “The guys have been struggling to score and that’s been a number of the players but it’s as a team. You defend as a team and attack as a team.

“We look comfortable in possession of the ball, we’re hard to break down as well but we just need to be braver.

“Confidence is a big thing as well, so as soon as we get a win or two under our belts we’ll kick on hopefully and start climbing the table even more.”