MAYA Yoshida is certain Saints have to view this afternoon’s match against Arsenal as an opportunity to hit the reset button.
The club spent the international break working away at Staplewood, which also included a game behind Brentford behind closed doors.
Yoshida was away with Japan but returned to Saints earlier in the week and views today’s clash as a chance for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side to change their fortunes,
“It’s a restart for ourselves and everyone has to be fresh, both physically and mentally,” explained the Saints veteran.
“Of course, they are not in a great place right now but, like us, they are trying to make a restart.
“The key is going to be not conceding in the first 10 minutes like we have done in the games before.
“As long as it stays goalless for a long time, then we will have more of an opportunity to get the points.”
Yoshida has been at the club long enough to know now isn’t the time to start panicking about relegation.
The defender has been involved in helping the club narrowly avoid the drop in the last two seasons.
Saints are currently in another precarious position, three points adrift of safety, but with a run of games that will see them play the teams around them in the table.
When questioned as to why they are continually finding themselves battling against relegation, Yoshida responded: “It’s not only one reason – there are a lot of reasons.
“It’s not a good situation we have, but only we can change it. Everyone has to take responsibility.
“Not only the players, but the manager, technical staff, medical staff and the board. We all have to take responsibility.
“We cannot change the past, we can only influence the future.
“In December it’s a crucial time of the season because we have a lot of games and we are playing against the teams near us in the table.”
If Saints are to get themselves out of trouble, it’s clear for all to see that they have to stop shipping goals at an alarming rate.
In their opening 12 Premier League ties, the St Mary’s outfit have conceded 29 goals, with 21 of those coming at home.
Yoshida added: “We concede a lot but that’s because of one game against Leicester.
“We are doing ok in the other games, not conceding too much, but maybe a lack of goals.
“We cannot change the numbers right now, but we try to keep a clean sheet in every game and, little by little, we need to get back our confidence.
“As a defence, we need to build our confidence up little by little. It’s not like a striker, who can score one goal and get back their confidence, we need to build a good combination of trust.”
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