PETER Crouch has lifted the lid on his Saints relegation and admitted: “We expected to get beaten… Even when we led games by the odd goal, I just knew the opposition were always going to get one.”

The former England international played just one season at Saints after joining from Aston Villa in 2004, becoming the main focus of the attack upon the arrival of Harry Redknapp.

He managed to net 16 goals from 33 appearances, including 12 in the Premier League, but could do nothing to stop the team’s slide down the table and out of the English top division.

The 40-year-old would go on to score over 100 Premier League goals in his career, as well as hitting a prolific rate of over 0.5 goals a game for his country in 42 appearances.

Read more

Keith Hackett says VAR completely wrong amid Walker red card

James Ward-Prowse reaches 100 consecutive EPL appearances

Ralph Hasenhuttl explains why he recalled Jan Bednarek

But writing in the Daily Mail, he has revealed all about the relegation suffered on the south coast in 2005, one that would see a seven-season absence from the Premier League and an eventual slip to League One.

Crouch writes: “The relegation we suffered at Southampton in 2005 will always stick with me. The lack of confidence in the dressing room, the acceptance of defeats.

Daily Echo: Peter Crouch was Saints' top goalscorer during the 2004-05 season (Pic: PA)Peter Crouch was Saints' top goalscorer during the 2004-05 season (Pic: PA)

“We won only one of our first 12 games that year and it can overwhelm the group. It certainly did with us. We expected to get beaten. When that dressing room is silent, that is when you know you are bang in trouble,” he admitted.

“If there is an acceptance of losing, nobody is pulling anybody or showing anger to rectify the situation, you have yourselves a team going down.

“Even when we led games by the odd goal, I just knew the opposition were always going to get one. And they nearly always did. It is such a deflating mentality and getting out of that funk is almost impossible.”

Crouch continued: “At Southampton, the deflation and lack of confidence consumed us all. One player turned to the manager at half-time and just said that he had gone.

Daily Echo: Peter Crouch celebrates with Kevin Phillips (Pic: PA)Peter Crouch celebrates with Kevin Phillips (Pic: PA)

“He was having a torrid time and was mentally done. He asked to come off, his confidence shot to pieces. The manager kept him on and he had a nightmare. We lost.

“Then there were games where we went in winning at half-time. Buoyant, right? Wrong. We came out afterwards wooden, nervous, jittery. We would sit back and try not to concede.

“Then you do concede and it became a matter of time before the inevitable. Here we go again.”