Table tennis wizard Oriol Romeu's desire for net gains at Saints

The 30-year-old midfielder captained Saints to their first net gain of the season, with a 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the top flight at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Romeu played 90 minutes of the clash against Marcelo Bielsa’s side, as Armando Broja’s winner earned Saints three match points.

But while delivering points and performances for Saints remains his main focus, the competitive Spaniard has also developed a love for table tennis while coming through the ranks at his different clubs.

Romeu was pictured on social media playing table tennis against boss Ralph Hasenhuttl during pre-season, while also previously locking horns with Juan Mata during the pair’s time at Chelsea.

The Saints star said: “On the table tennis, I’ve got no rival - I am unbeaten so far! All jokes aside, I think I am the best at table tennis.

“I love table tennis and it’s probably one of the things I would do more often if I could. I beat the manager this time. I just beat anyone on the other side of the table!”

Quizzed about playing against World Cup winner Mata, Romeu replied: “Yeah, every time we finished a training session we would go down to the gym.

“We had a table tennis table there and we would play for a good hour or sometimes longer.

“We were running more in table tennis than on the pitch sometimes! We loved it because it was so good to do something else, something different and we enjoyed it.”

He added: “I don’t like losing. I like winning and I like getting better and competing well.

“Although sometimes as I get older, I try to be a little bit more clever – it’s more important what I do on the pitch than playing table tennis and some other sports.

“But I like competing, I like rackets, tennis and paddle – any sports that can help me to think of something else and also get fitter in the meantime. It’s nice to do.”

Romeu is expected to keep his place when Saints host Burnley at St Mary’s on Saturday (3pm).