DEFENDER Jan Bednarek insisted Saints would be ready for the “physical quality” of Burnley when the sides square off at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Sean Dyche’s Clarets are yet to win a game in the top flight this season, having picked up just three points from their opening eight league contests.

The Turf Moor side have scored five goals in the division this campaign, only bottom side Norwich have scored fewer.

But Bednarek will not be taking the Lancashire outfit lightly and is ready for a physical battle.

Quizzed on Burnley, the Poland international said: “They have a lot of physical quality, they know what they can do and they know their qualities.

“They play a lot of long balls. It's difficult.

"They are difficult to play against but we know what we will face, we know what we have to do and we will be ready for this."

Saints sealed their first league win of the campaign with a 1-0 victory over Leeds United last time out.

A triumph over the Clarets would open up a seven-point gap on Burnley – and potentially the Premier League bottom three.

"We're not focused on the gap. We are focused on getting three points in every single game,” insisted Bednarek.

“We just need to try to get as many points as possible, as many wins as possible.

“That is what we want after the period where we struggled with winning games. We want another three points from the game."