Kevin Phillips has warned his side they need to get a win now to avoid being sucked into a season-long relegation battle.

The £3.25m hitman says the team has not slipped into the realms of a relegation scrap yet but is acutely aware that getting another win on the board as soon as possible is vital to avoid such a fate.

Having won just one league game out of seven all season, Saints face Manchester City at St Mary's tomorrow before a two-week break and the high pressure match is being seen by many as an early make or break clash for Steve Wigley's men.

Phillips said: "It's getting to the stage now where we can't keep saying 'it'll be alright, we'll win next week.' We need to win now.

"If we lose the next two or three games then we'll be in this position, I feel, for the rest of the season.

"I've been there before with Sunderland and if you're in the bottom four or five around the end of November it's tough.

"Now is a massive period for us with tomorrow's game, then the break which will be more enjoyable if we can get a win."

Phillips, who was relegated with Sunderland, added: "We believe we are good enough to finish above 10th so for us to be where we are at the moment is very disappointing with the players we've got.

"We can't afford to feel sorry for ourselves. We've got to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in and just believe we can win games and the manager's been trying to instil that.

"We've all got to stick together now. I've been in this situation before and if you start letting things get out of control then it's picked up for all the wrong reasons.

"If we can get the press back to saying that Southampton are a hard side to break down then that's good for us.

"Two or three wins and everybody will forget about Southampton and move onto another club."

The Saints fans that made the journey to Fulham last week to see their side lose again vented their feelings after the game and Phillips spoke out to say the players were disappointed with the reaction.

After a few days to reflect on events, he said: "Whether I was right or wrong, I was speaking for all of us.

"We're trying our hardest and we need everyone pulling in the right direction.

"The fans' support is excellent and, hopefully tomorrow, they will be very vocal - if you've got 30,000 people screaming for you, it's a huge advantage.

"The position we're in at the moment, we need that help.

"It's a big, big game and there's no thoughts in our dressing-room or our club about losing.

"I don't think we're that far away from putting a string of results together - it's just we've got to tighten up and get back to doing the basics."

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