SAINTS boss Ruben Selles has revealed how he and his team reacted to their shock FA Cup elimination at the hands of League Two Grimsby Town.

Having taken over from Nathan Jones just a fortnight earlier, Selles’s Saints had the chance to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals when they hosted Grimsby at St Mary’s. 

But two penalties from Gavan Holohan gave Saints a mountain to climb and Duje Caleta-Car’s 65th minute volley wasn’t enough to turn the tide.

Coming a week after Saints’ damaging 1-0 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road, it seemed the wheels might already be falling off of the Selles era. 

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But Saints went on to claim five points from the next four games before the international break, including a potentially seismic win against Leicester and draws with Manchester United and Spurs.

Now in the natural pause of the international break, Selles sat down with the club’s media team to discuss his rise to the Saints hot-seat, his managerial approach, and his reaction to that Grimsby shock.

“I said it’s very important when you have a defeat like that you sit and you reflect,” Selles recalled. 

Daily Echo: Ruben Selles pictured on the touchline during Saints' 2-1 defeat to Grimsby Town.Ruben Selles pictured on the touchline during Saints' 2-1 defeat to Grimsby Town. (Image: Stuart Martin)

“It’s not like you move forward and try to forget – we are not forgetting. We cannot forget because if we forget, we will make the same mistakes.

“I was very pleased with the reaction. I think they did an amazing job – all of them. All of the boys, all of the technical staff, they are working really good and the result reflects on what we are doing and what the individuals are putting in for the club.

“I would be very pleased to keep this team in the Premier League. I think we need to go one step at a time, be careful with the message, but I will say that yes we can do it, and we will do our best to do it.”

Despite the recent upturn in form under Selles, Saints still sit bottom of the Premier League table, two points adrift of safety with ten games left to play. 

They return from the international break with a huge trip to London Stadium to face West Ham, David Moyes' sitting two places and one point clear of Saints.