RALPH Hasenhuttl has insisted that “the results are not always showing the true picture of how we played,” after torrid run of two points in five Premier League matches.

The Austrian boss did also admit that Saints have to play “much better” heading into an intense time of the season, following their fifth successive match without victory.

That run includes the defeats on the road at Norwich and Liverpool, while both home matches versus Leicester and Brighton saw leads let slip by errors that would be comical if not so predictable.

Hasenhuttl came under fire at the beginning of the campaign too when Saints failed to win any of the opening seven, although a similar case was made that good performances weren’t being rewarded with points.

And ahead of the visit to Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park on Wednesday, the boss assessed the recent downturn in form: “I guess Brighton and Leicester we played good games but the problem is we didn’t nick the points that we should have.

“Also against Norwich I think we played much better than the result was in the end, so the results are not always showing the true picture of how we played.

“But I have to say against Arsenal after the first 35 minutes we didn’t do enough and we play on Wednesday against a team that is in good shape at the moment.”

He continued: “But we know that we can play much better, and we have to.

“Now it becomes a very intense time, we have a few injury problems but this affects every team at the moment and we have to find good alternatives to be successful.”