A MONTH ago Jelle Van Damme admitted he felt a little frustrated by a lack of opportunities since arriving at St Mary's during the summer.

"I want to show what I can do," he commented.

An injury to Graeme Le Saux has given him his chance, and in the past two weeks, the £2.5m signing has shown exactly what he has to offer.

Pace, power, strength, bravery in the tackle, a streak of fearlessness and a sweet left foot. All in all, Van Damme's potential does look hugely encouraging.

He remains a little raw defensively, but a viable long-term replacement to Wayne Bridge really appeared to emerge during yesterday's goalless draw with Birmingham.

"I hope to keep getting better and better," said Van Damme.

"It's good for my confidence and I want to do the same every game.

"I enjoyed the game from start to finish. I've played a few games here and every game I have played I'm enjoying."

Van Damme's partnership with Neil McCann on the left, as well as Saints' defensive solidity, were the two major positives from another disappointing result.

"Every game I have played for Southampton has been with Neil and we have played together in training," said Van Damme.

"It's going well with him. We can find each other easily on the pitch.

"I think that partnership with him in front of me on the pitch will get better and better as well.

"We just need a goal and I think that would solve the problem because defensively we are doing a good job."

Saints had dropped to the bottom of the league yesterday morning, but Van Damme said it had not added any extra pressure prior to the match.

"It did not affect our mentality at all," he said.

"Every game is a difficult game wherever you are in the league. If we had won, it would be a big step ahead.

"It's our job and the pressure is not a problem, that comes with football.

"We just need a goal from someone. We played well and created some chances but we just need that bit of luck to score a goal.

"You always need a bit of luck. If you can't score, you can't win a game. It's as simple as that.

"We played well and I think every game is getting better which helps the confidence among the group."

Van Damme is now hoping the Carling Cup clash with Colchester on Wednesday will help kick-start that goalscoring confidence.

"I hope we can use the game on Wednesday to score goals and get some confidence for the Arsenal game which is a game when we have nothing to lose," he said.

Aside from some booing on the final whistle, Saints fans got behind the team yesterday despite the poor start to the season.

"I think the supporters were very good which is important," added Van Damme.

"We can hear them and that makes us better."