A DISTRAUGHT Harry Redknapp admitted Saturday's second-half capitulation has him "fearful" in the fight for Premiership survival.

"It was a massive blow, we've thrown three points away and we've got it all to do now," said the Saints boss.

Redknapp was almost lost for words after seeing his team lead 2-0 at half-time and then run-out 3-2 losers.

But he knows Saints cannot afford to dwell on dropped points with tomorrow's trip to Bolton and then Sunday's south-coast derby at Pompey on the horizon.

Redknapp said: "Of course we need something from Bolton and Portsmouth. It's not going to be easy, but we've got to keep going."

The defeat leaves Saints rooted in the bottom three with West Brom the big beneficiaries from a weekend when they were not even in action.

The Baggies have a game in hand and remain one point ahead of Saints and Crystal Palace, with Iain Dowie's men coming back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Norwich at Selhurst Park.

"If we don't win it doesn't matter about other results," said Redknapp. "If we had won and they (Norwich and Crystal Palace) draw you would think it was perfect.

"But West Brom have had a great weekend. It couldn't have worked out better for them.

"In our situation it was disappointing. West Brom are above us with a game in hand now."

Redknapp was delighted with a first-half performance that could have seen Saints go in more than two goals clear after strikes from Kevin Phillips and Peter Crouch, but he admitted nerve had come into play once Villa pulled one back.

He said: "One or two of them didn't deserve to be on the losing side, that's for sure.

"They didn't feel complacent. It was nerve that goes. We didn't go 'listen lads we're 2-0 up, this game is all over.'

"We know that if they get a goal it's game on. We could have been three or four up and it could have been game over, but at 2-0 it was game on still."