RALPH Hasenhuttl is confident the goals will start flowing again soon for Saints, but admitted star striker Danny Ings "must find his rhythm back".

Saints have not scored in their past three matches, the first time that has happened since Hasenhuttl took charge in December 2018.

Following a 1-0 defeat to Man City, Saints were held to goalless draws by Fulham and West Ham, which has seen them slip out of the top six spots.

Hasenhuttl, who is set to return to the dugout tomorrow after a spell of self-isolation, will look to get his team firing again when champions Liverpool head to St Mary's (8pm).

Asked if it is easier to rectify attacking or defensive issues, Hasenhuttl said: "Easier to fix is not scoring goals, because we also on Tuesday had chances, so we scored once but it was offside.

"We know that we can score goals. Yes, in set pieces Jannik (Vestergaard) was a very important part of the past now, he scored a few good goals, Prowsey (James Ward-Prowse) is good at delivering a few free-kicks over the wall and Ingsy was in a different shape than he is at the moment.

"But this is normal, he was injured. Now he must find his rhythm back.

"We still have chances, not so many but there are still chances there. I think it can be more.

"We have to find a good balance in the future of keeping the ball and still creating chances.

"This is a good challenge for the next games, but the most important thing for me is that we have conceded so far 19 goals this season – this is one less than Liverpool.

"This is the biggest step and what was definitely necessarily and this is the fundament of having a good season."

Having now recovered from knee and hamstring injuries, Ings will be looking to end a run of four consecutive Premier League games without a goal when lining up against his former club tomorrow.

The last time the striker failed to score in four consecutive top-flight appearances was back in August 2019, which came before a prolific year in front of goal.

"He had a good start to the game (against West Ham) with a good goal. It was a pity it was offside a little bit," said Hasenhuttl.

"Definitely after his injury it’s normal that he is not in his 100 per cent rhythm, but it’s important that he stays fit now and has enough time to recover for the next game against his former club Liverpool.

"I’m happy to have him back and we definitely must have more punch up front to score more goals in future, but this will come I’m sure."

He continued: "Ingsy was injured for a long time, you see that he’s still not in the rhythm, Che (Adams) is a little bit tired I think at the moment.

"He played nearly every game so he feels now that the season is long and the young lads must also wait for getting that quality we really need to score.

"At the moment also from the 10s the final finish is not really there, but this is definitely a part of the game we can develop now.

"Find the right balance and find the right decision in the final third is the topic for this week. But the clean sheet is a good basic and a good fundament of building up."