PETER CROUCH is hoping his goalscoring form will keep Saints in the Premiership.

The striker continued his outstanding run with two more goals last night in the 3-1 FA Cup win over Brentford to take his tally for the season to 11.

He has now overtaken Kevin Phillips as the club's leading scorer - even though Phillips grabbed his tenth of the campaign last night.

Crouch was on the bench throughout the early part of the season but has been superb since Harry Redknapp arrived as manager last December.

Crouch has scored 10 goals in 15 matches since Redknapp arrived, including eight in his last ten outings.

He said: "I hope I can see out this form for the rest of the season, getting goals will be crucial and I've got to keep my form going to keep us up.

"It was frustrating not to start the season, but the manager has come in and given me starts and I'm relishing it. I've just got to keep the run going."

Crouch again linked up with Phillips last night, but has also been prolific in recent weeks playing alongside Henri Camara.

He said: "I really enjoy playing with Kev. He looks for me as much as I look for him.

"He set me up for the first and I set him up for the second, so with Henri Camara as well we have got players who can score goals."

Crouch was always expecting a tough test at Brentford last night and praised the character of his team-mates after they fought back from conceding an early goal.

He said: "It was always going to be difficult, they made it difficult for us at St Mary's so to come with the crowd behind them we knew what we would face.

"Going a goal behind made it even more difficult but we showed a strength of character in the second-half to get the ball down on what was a difficult pitch and win.

"We were always dangerous on the break, they threw men forward and we managed to put the chances away.

"A lot of teams have lost to so-called smaller teams and we didn't want to make it us."

An FA Cup quarter-final with Manchester United now looms, but Crouch stressed that Premiership survival remained the overwhelming priority.

He added: "The manager has told us that the most important thing is the league. The FA Cup is some respite and it's enjoyable to play with not as much pressure."