NATHAN Redmond is backing himself to recapture the form that saw him scoop multiple awards at the end of last season.

The winger finished the previous campaign as the club’s top scorer with nine goals, having played a massive part in maintaining their Premier League status.

It’s been a difficult start to this season for Redmond after injuring his ankle in the Carabao Cup win against Fulham back in August.

However, the 25-year-old is confident that it’s only a matter of time before his devastating form returns.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Redmond said: “It’s been tough.

“I got hit with a little ankle injury that kept me out for a month and I’m just slowly coming back from that I think.

“I’ve been hit with so many different circumstances within it, so, for me, the minimum requirement is to work hard for the team first and foremost.

“I am only worried when I’m not in goalscoring opportunities to score when a cross is coming in or when someone is on the turn and it’s an opportunity for a through ball.

“The manager has always alluded to me that he wants me to work hard for the team first and foremost and that with hard work the goals will come.

“If I’m sitting here with four or five goals this season then we aren’t necessarily talking about it.

“It’s probably been a bit slow to what I expected coming off the back of last season, but I have every confidence in myself and abilities to help the team.”

Having worked hard over the summer to ensure he could return to Saints in tip-top shape, Redmond’s injury couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time.

His 90th minute strike against Brighton at the Amex Stadium sealed the deal on an important win for the St Mary’s side and broke his goalscoring duck for the campaign.

He carried this form into the match with Fulham, setting up Michael Obafemi, before injuring his ankle in the second half.

This led to him being absent for the games with Sheffield United and Manchester United.

“I was doing what I want to do best which is running right through the heart of the pitch lining up a centre-half and then as I’m about to shoot I rolled my ankle," explained Redmond.

“Everything happens for a reason, so I can’t dwell on that. But at the end of the day, it’s something that happened and I’m slowly coming back to where I was.

“When I wasn’t playing I was watching the games and I was absolutely buzzing after Sheffield United.

“I was able to come back for the Portsmouth game, although I wasn’t at 100 per cent I knew what it meant to this club to put myself out there.

“I was still a bit undecided, but I managed to score against Portsmouth and then I’ve been working my way back to it.”

Redmond’s next chance to get on the scoresheet will be against Everton this weekend – Saints’ first game at St Mary’s since losing 9-0 to Leicester.

The Toffees are currently just above Saints in the Premier League table, with reports suggesting boss Marco Silva is edging closer to the exit door.

Should Saints win at the weekend, and Aston Villa lose, it will leave them level on points with their two rivals going into the international break.

Although many expected Villa to be fighting against the drop this season, Redmond admitted he isn’t overly surprised to see Silva’s side languishing at the foot of the table.

“I am but at the same time, I’m not. This is no disrespect to Everton but it’s the fact that the Premier League is tough and it’s getting tougher every single year,” continued Redmond.

“People are spending £20-30million on players like it’s nothing.

“Every squad has four or five really technically gifted players that can go and hurt you on any given day.

“I think that just shows the standard of the Premier League rather than the fact that teams are performing poorly.

“We are probably one of those teams that haven’t been at our best but at the same time we have talented players in our squad.”