Maya Yoshida says Southampton need to be better when they face Manchester United

Yoshida played alongside Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Saints defence with captain Jose Fonte left out after a truncated pre-season following his Euro 2016 success with Portugal.

He admits Saints should have done better than draw 1-1 against a Watford side down to ten men for the last half hour.

Yoshida said: “I feel like we haven’t got one point, we’ve lost two. I’ve been here four or five years and the first game in the Premier League is never easy, but in today’s first half we were sleeping.

“It was too shy. The second half was much better but sometimes it’s difficult to play against ten players.

“We dominated [possession]but it’s not easy to dominate opponents who just drop on the box.

There are no excuses, we knew it was going to be difficult, but it’s just one game done. We’ve got another 37.”

Saints may have won their last two matches at Old Trafford, but Yoshida acknowledges: “It will be tough, a massive fight for us at one of the greatest stadiums in the world.

“It’s not important if we’re playing against Zlatan [Ibrahimovich] or [Wayne] Rooney or whoever, it’s all about ourselves.

“If we play like we did in the first half today we will get punishment but if we play with more confidence, like we did last season or even better, the result could be great for us.”

Yoshida admits Saints should have done more to prevent Watford’s goal.

“We need to recover physically and mentally and make up for the mistakes,” he continued. “Yes, maybe we should have stopped the cross and we need to get second ball. It wasn’t just the header, we lost a lot of second balls.

“We need to play more dynamic, we were a little afraid to go forwards. We passed side to side and behind and then we lost the ball.”

Yoshida, who played against Nathan Redmond when Saints beat Norwich 3-0 at St Mary’s last August, was pleased for Saints’ goalscoring debutant.

“He had good confidence and showed good quality. I’m happy for him to score the first goal, it makes it easier for him.

“If he has the space he can do everything, he’s fast and I hope he makes a difference for us.”

Pierre-Emile Hjøjbjerg and Jeremy Pied also made a good impression as substitutes.

“[The Premier League] is not the same as other league competitions so it’s a big step for them,” added Yoshida. “The season is really long, we need everyone. With the Europa League as well it’s going to be tough physically and mentally.”