MANAGER Ralph Hasenhuttl declared Saints as “one of the better-organised teams” in the Premier League after pushing big guns Manchester City to the limit.

The St Mary’s side had their chances to take at least a point against Pep Guardiola’s troops at home before eventually succumbing to a 1-0 defeat.

Raheem Sterling’s 16th-minute winner separated the sides and ensured Saints slipped down from their lofty position of third ahead of kick-off.

But Hasenhuttl insisted his team’s display showed how far they have come this season.

He said: “I can see an unbelievable effort from my team and I think we underlined why we were top-four before this game.

“It was a top game, in my opinion. A top Premier League game, tactically on a very high level.

“It’s hard to defend such a team but we did it in an awesome way. The only thing we missed in our game were a few goals. We had chances for a few and they also had chances for a few more.

“It was amazing to watch and hard to coach from our side, but it’s always interesting to play against Pep and we both enjoyed this game massively.

“It was really amazing what we did today, I must say.”

Defeat left Saints with 24 points from their opening 14 league games – a tally that includes seven wins, four defeats and three draws.

Asked whether he felt his side still had the potential to finish in the top four this season, the Austrian boss replied: “I don’t know if we have the quality to stay up there that long.

“The individual qualities also become part of the game and I think other teams have more options than we have.

“We brought on Nathan Tella and Dan N’Lundulu, they bring on Mahrez or whoever. It is different, but this is what we are really proud of.

“We are one of the better-organised teams in this league. We show it every week

“We try to be always on the hunt, always in with a chance of getting some points somewhere.”