BOSS Ralph Hasenhuttl feels Saints are "getting better and better" after seeing his side hit four goals at St Mary's for the first time since he took charge of the club.

Jan Bednarek's early header and an unfortunate Alvaro Fernandez own goal cancelled out Vitaly Janelt's strike to give Saints a 2-1 lead against Brentford at half-time.

Strikers Armando Broja and substitute Che Adams then netted in the second half to secure a comfortable 4-1 victory, which lifts Hasenhuttl's men up to 11th in the Premier League.

It is the first time Saints have netted four in a competitive game at St Mary's since seeing off Everton 4-1 under Mauricio Pellegrino in November 2017, thanks to a Charlie Austin brace as well as goals from Dusan Tadic and Steven Davis.

Since the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal on December 11, Saints have now netted 13 goals in their five games games since.

Asked if this is his side's best show of attacking form since he arrived at the club more than three years ago, Hasenhuttl said: "We have not won with four goals at home since 2017! So you definitely can say this is the best performance with the ball.

"We have definitely worked on this part of our game, massively in the summer. Every week we are very, very (meticulous) developing every part of this game. It is very good to see we score now a little bit easier, with the set pieces but also in the open game.

"In the Premier League it is always tough to score. We had a tough start to this season, but you could feel that the team is getting better and better.

"The season is long and you know that especially the young players take a little bit of time to adapt."

Saints were without a host of players for the fixture with Thomas Frank's Bees.

That included the absences of all three of the club's senior right-backs with Kyle Walker-Peters and Yan Valery both suspended and Tino Livramento injured.

Hasenhuttl opted for a tactical tweak, operating Nathan Tella and Romain Perraud as wing-backs in a 3-5-2 system.

"Even if you have injuries like we have at the moment and COVID cases, I think we had four or five cases, we are able to bring a good side on the pitch and not discussing about cancelling games or something," said Hasenhuttl.

"We want to play football. We want to do it every week. No matter if you have no right-back or whatever, we try to bring every player in the right position to help us. I told the guys this is the time you have to be flexible.

"Nathan Tella was a right winger suddenly and had to defend some moments in the box and then Prowsey (James Ward-Prowse) was in this position. It is what we have to be in this moment, flexible. Have a clear plan of what they have to do and then in the end show a good performance."