Saints starlets Brian Howard and Gary McManus have cut short their stay in Australia because the standard of football was not high enough.

The pair were loaned out to Western Premier League side Jondaloop but have returned home after just two games.

Former England Schools striker Howard said: "It would have been very easy to have stayed out there and had a two-month holiday.

"But we are footballers, not tourists, and we didn't feel we'd have learned much.

"It was probably about Dr Martens League standard and we decided we'd be better off grafting away at The Dell.

"As it was men's football, we knew it'd be physical, but some of the tackles were just silly. They knew who we were, so we were marked out for special attention and took a bit of a battering.

"But that's not the reason we've came back. Soccer is only their sixth national sport over there and the mentality was very different.

"We lost the first game 3-0 and they were passing beers round in the dressing room!

"They didn't seem bothered to have lost; all the talk was of going to the pub.

"We won the second game 2-1 and the pair of us did OK, but we could feel ourselves being dragged down to that level rather than improving.

"It is a shame as it is a lovely country and the people were really friendly and it'd have been nice to have stayed.

"We were there to enhance our careers and we did not feel that was going to happen.

"I intend to work hard on my fitness here over the summer to be fully ready for pre-season.