JACK Stephens believes Saints need to be braver when they play their fourth six-pointer in three weeks at Aston Villa on Saturday.

The defender admitted Saints ‘weren’t good enough’ during their abject 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday.

Now, as Saints prepare to take on a Villa side that is only above them on goal difference after losing its last three games, Stephens believes they need to show more positive intent.

He said: “Every game is high-pressure but when you play teams around you it’s so important to win.

Saturday’s result was a massive boost for West Ham and a big blow for us. 

“We did it against Watford and Norwich but needed to kick on at Newcastle and shouldn’t have lost there from the position we were in. 

“Saturday wasn’t good enough. We didn’t create or show enough intent. 

“It was so disappointing. The away games are difficult enough but these home games, especially against teams around us, we have to be a lot better. 

“We need to create more chances, we need to be braver, to play and get on the ball. We didn’t do that on Saturday. We need to be better all over the pitch.

“Every game is high-pressure but we need to be relishing these games, we can’t hide away.”

Saints barely threatened West Ham goalkeeper David Martin, with Stephens himself missing the target with a late chance.

“We didn’t create enough chances to win the game and didn’t defend well enough as a team,” he continued.

“We can’t complain and have only got ourselves to blame. We have to find a way to win because these are the sorts of games we have to be picking up points from. 

“We can’t be losing ground on our rivals, it’s just really disappointing

“Now we’ve got a big game on Saturday and a lot of games over Christmas. We need to bounce back.”

Stephens admitted he was at a loss to explain Saints’ poor display, especially in the first half.

“I can’t put my finger on it, we need time to reflect and get back to basics because it’s another big game on Saturday.

“We didn’t start the game well enough. “West Ham got a good foothold in the game, created a few chances and put us under pressure.

“That’s what we should be doing, especially at home. We should be taking the initiative in these games.

“Alex made some great saves which kept us in the game but we didn’t deserve to get anything out of it.”