ORIOL Romeu believes Charlie Austin has proved to England manager Gareth Southgate that he’s worthy of a Three Lions call up.

The 28-year-old striker is in hot form, having scored his fourth goal in as many games in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal at St Mary’s yesterday.

“Having a striker in that form is very good,” said Romeu. “Charlie is a top striker and we have to just enjoy that and keep feeding him balls, creating more chances and we know he doesn’t need much to score, so that’s a great feeling.”

Austin has been called up to the England team once before, but never made it off the bench in friendlies against the Republic of Ireland and Slovenia in May 2015.

Now, Romeu wants to see the former QPR man get another chance on the international stage ahead of the World Cup finals in Russia next summer.

“I see him going there [to the England team], 100 per cent,” said Romeu.

“He’s a good striker. He has the ability to get to so many crosses or getting into the area, he’s a clever footballer.

“He’s ready to go and he’s proved that. Every time he scores his chances. He’s always a danger man.”

Austin made his third start of the Premier League season against the Gunners and once again proved to be a superb focal point for Saints’ attack.

It has made a difference to the team as a whole, with the attack looking better balanced with Austin leading the line.

When asked if he reckons the ex-Burnley man makes other players perform better, Romeu said: “Probably, he’s a clever footballer and he’s a good player in the box. He knows how to hold up those long balls.

“He’s played so many games in this type of football, so he knows what he has to do.”

Austin’s goal was nearly enough to win the game for Saints against Arsenal.

However, a Olivier Giroud header, two minutes from time, saw Mauricio Pellegrino’s men concede a last-gasp goal in successive outings against one of the Premier League’s top six, having also seen Raheem Sterling score a 96th minute winner for Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last month.

Romeu says Saints were left angry by the Gunners’ comeback, having missed chances to win it.

“It’s happened again and we were very very angry after the game, because we don’t want to concede like that,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ve done much wrong to deserve that goal because while we were playing I was feeling good.

“I know we were defending and I know we had to defend but I didn’t see them creating easy chances or getting into our box too easily.

“It was a good action for them to score but our attitude in the second and first half was exactly what we have to do.”

The 26-year-old midfielder insists Saints will learn from another late goal.

“Yes, of course, being in this position, it helps you for the next games,” he said.

“The thing we need to try and do is kill the game, get that second goal which will give us more room if there is a mistake, so we don’t drop points.”

He continued: “Right now we feel we dropped two points, but maybe at the beginning of the game a point against one of the best teams in the league would be something nice.

“But we don’t want to go out there thinking we just want one point playing at home, especially when we’re feeling good and, the way we’re feeling now, we want to get three points against everyone.”

Romeu has now urged Saints to push on and get vital points to pull themselves away from the relegation zone.

“We need a couple of wins in a row to get back in a good position and get some points,” he said.

“Everything is so tight, as soon as you win you can go higher, but as soon as you lose you can drop places in the table.

“We need a couple of wins in a row and that will give us a good place in the table and that confidence that we need because playing well and not winning is frustrating.”

It’s former Saints manager Claude Puel who brings his in form Leicester City team to St Mary’s next, and Romeu knows it’s a huge match.

The Foxes have just won three games in a row in the Premier League and sit eighth.

“Losing would create a massive gap between them and us and we want to get closer to them and higher,” he said.

“There is no other option than winning.”

He added: “They’ve got some good players and they got quality. I think Puel is a good manager, so it’s good for them.

“It’s just performing well and doing well and being clever with the way they play in the system that works well for them.

“They are getting points now, so it won’t be easy.”