MAYA Yoshida admitted his Saints teammates must shoulder some of the blame for Mark Hughes losing his job.

Although Yoshida wasn’t surprised by the club’s actions, he feels responsible for how the Welshman’s reign at St Mary’s came to an end. 

“I always feel guilty when managers have to leave the club after not getting good results,” Yoshida said.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, but after we played against Manchester United, I am a little bit surprised.

“It isn’t only the manager’s problem and every single player has to take responsibility. We didn’t win 10 games and as a professional it simply isn’t enough.

“We have to change it and the club decided to make the difficult decision.

“As a professional, if we get a big salary with Southampton in the Premier League, we need to take responsibility.

“I’m really grateful to Mark Hughes who had success by keeping us in the Premier League, which was really important when he arrived.

“We can’t put all the responsibility on Mark Hughes and say it was his fault.

“Individually, every single player and member of staff who is connected to the club, has to take responsibility.”

Hughes addressed his former players on Monday morning after learning that his services were no longer required by the club.

And Yoshida revealed that Hughes showed a level of class by doing so and that the rest of his teammates now have an uphill battle on their hands.

“As a human being, it’s a really sad moment when a manager has to leave,” Yoshida added.

“He showed up in front of us to give us his last speech, similar to what we had with Mauricio [Pellegrino].

“He was still positive until the end and he showed us respect. He left as a man.

“But have to go to another level now, and to do that we need to come back again. We need to climb the mountain, and this is the time where we have to survive.

“After Mauricio Pellegrino went, everyone said ‘it’s too late’, but we did it and we can do it again.”