SAINTS star Joe Aribo insisted “we’re all united” and called on himself and his teammates to take on the messages of manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The Nigerian international, who stayed behind in the last break to work with the coaches in his first season at St Mary’s, has a second Premier League goal.

Aribo, 26, opened the scoring right after the half-time break versus Everton but it would be worth nothing after Conor Coady and Dwight McNeil’s instant responses.

The 2-1 defeat saw Saints slip to a third successive loss and ramped up pressure on boss Hasenhuttl, who a large section of supporters have lost patience with.

However, Aribo insisted the group must remain together in order to turn around their slump in form.

Daily Echo: Aribo in action versus Everton (Pic: Stuart Martin)Aribo in action versus Everton (Pic: Stuart Martin) (Image: Stuart Martin)

“We’re all united, we’re all together. We know how important it is to get out of this run we’re going through,” he told the Daily Echo.

“The boys are working hard daily, we just need to take onboard the manager’s points to see what he needs to get results in the next few games.”

Aribo added: “You can take positives from it, in football you’re going to have games where you have positives and negatives also.

“We’re creating chances and that’s a good thing, we just need to find the back of the net and be a bit more focussed together defensively as a unit.

“It’s definitely frustrating. I wouldn’t say we are worried because games are coming thick and fast.

“As long as we get results and performances in the next games we will look back at this as just a blip in our season. We can’t dwell on it too much. It’s so important we get going together, as a team and as a unit, to get results.”

However, the former Rangers star could not hide his frustration at the futility of his second goal since arriving in a summer £6million deal.

“I’m really happy to score to get my numbers, but without a result it doesn’t mean anything,” he added.

“It’s really frustrating for the team and for me that we haven’t got the win today. The boys are really frustrated, we wanted to get a result and to go a goal ahead puts you in a good place to get a result.

“To concede so soon after scoring was really frustrating, and it was a bitter one to take. I think, in football, the games come thick and fast so we can’t dwell on a moment.

“This game is gone and there’s nothing we can do to change it, all we can do is make it right in games to come. The boys need to dust ourselves off, recover and get back onto the training field.” 

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