Mauricio Pellegrino insists he and his squad understand the frustrations of Saints fans after a club record eighth consecutive Premier League home match without a victory.

A goalless St Mary’s draw against Stoke was the latest in the run as Saints continue to struggle in their battle for Premier League survival.

After a listless first half performance Saints dominated the second period but couldn’t get the goal to give them what would have been a vital three points.

With nine games - six away and three at St Mary’s - remaining time is running out, but Pellegrino is adamant his side can do on the road what they have been unable to in front of their own fans.

He said: “Obviously we understand the feeling of the fans.

“We are working really hard to try and turn this situation up and obviously we have to do away to get those points we couldn’t do at home.

“We have to continue doing the job that we did in the second half.

“Our fans we understand because Southampton we are everybody – the players, the fans, the board, the people, the staff, everybody.

“Now we have to be all together and pushing, giving energy and try to be as strong as we can until the end.”

With winnable matches starting to slip by for Saints, the pressure is increasing still further.

Pellegrino has been confident about the prospects of his side surviving the drop, but didn’t want to focus on anything other than the next match in their battle to stay up.

“We have to think about the next game,” he insisted.

“This is now our job.

“We can’t work thinking about one point, two points, three points.

“We have to think about to improve on the pitch because the result is the consequence.

“It’s a moment to think about and work about our mentality, be prepared for the next game and do everything to win.”

Though there seems little appetite or point in replacing Pellegrino at this stage of the season, the boss was inevitably asked about his future and replied: “For me the most important now is Southampton. This is more important than me.

“It’s more important than the players, the manager, every single person that works.

“Football is amazing and we are part of something that is more important than everyone.”