ORIOL Romeu revealed how having new-born baby Zac “couldn’t be any better” as he balances football with feeding times and nappy changes.

The Saints midfielder welcomed his first child into the world earlier this year.

He revealed how he had been able to help care for his son overnight during the off-season, but was now back to a regular sleeping pattern as the 2021-22 campaign got underway.

And the proud new dad insisted he would not change a minute, as he provides for Zac and his family.

He told the Daily Echo: “It’s been great. It’s one of the things we as people are always thinking ‘is that going to happen one day?’ And he finally arrived.

“We are very happy, very pleased and everything is going well so far.

“I am trying to learn as the days go by. It’s a continuous learning thing, changing and then growing so quickly – but trying to get next to him and helping wherever I can.

“It’s a bit harder now because he is sleeping less.

“Once you get home, your wife or girlfriend is telling you to do things that you haven’t done for the whole morning – but you have been running around the pitch, so you are also tired.

“Trying to find a balance is difficult but we are very happy, very pleased and everything is going according to plan – it couldn’t be any better.”

Sleep is essential for any elite athlete to perform at their best – and Romeu is thankful to his girlfriend for allowing him to get the correct amount, while Zac is up at night.

“The first few weeks when he arrived, I was trying to be up from 4-5am, we were doing half a night each,” said the Saints star, who this month celebrates his 30th birthday.

“But I just say to her ‘I need the sleep’. If I’m not getting the sleep, I just feel tired everywhere.

“But at that time I was still injured, so I could still do it and over the holidays I could still do it.

“Now we are playing and training, we need to get these seven or eight hours. As soon as I wake up, I try to compensate with what I haven’t done overnight.

“Luckily she is good and she is accepted – otherwise I will be in trouble!”

Asked whether Zac’s arrival had given him an extra incentive to perform and make him proud, the midfielder said: “Yeah, I agree.

“It also helps you to think of something else, otherwise it was always football, football, football.

“Too much thinking of something is sometimes a bit negative. You get over-frustrated whenever you lose a game and you are not performing as much as you want.

“Having your kid, when you go back home and he smiles – everything just goes away. That extra companion and extra thing to think of or be focused on is really helpful.”

On the field, the former Barcelona and Chelsea man has started all three Premier League contests this season.

Saints lost their opening fixture against Everton before draws against Manchester United and Newcastle before the international break.

Assessing the start to the season Romeu said: “We’ve got points but we’ve got no wins, so it’s a bit 50-50.

“The feeling is that we are getting better – the game against Newcastle overall, I think we were the better team, but we didn’t win it.

“Against Man United we competed really well. We held them.

“That’s a good sign and there’s positive things but there’s no wins and wins give you confidence, wins give you the right atmosphere to work and keep believing in what the team is doing.

“Hopefully the wins come soon.”

Saints are set to host West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday.