SAINTS captain James Ward-Prowse admitted a lack of consistency in the coaching of set-pieces could have affected his team but insisted it should not be an excuse.

The skipper was speaking following a 1-0 defeat at West Ham United on Sunday, after Nayef Aguerd headed in from a deep free-kick for the only goal of the game.

It was the 13th set-piece goal conceded this season with only AFC Bournemouth shipping more (17). Saints have had a series of coaching changes this campaign with set-pieces also affected.

After Dave Watson was one of three coaches sacked in the summer, Alex Clapham was hired from Notts County to lead on set pieces. However, he decided to leave the club by September.

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Ruben Selles, now manager, then took over before Nathan Jones brought his own staff when Ralph Hasenhuttl was replaced. Now, the responsibility has been shifted among a new-look group, including goalkeeping coach Andrew Sparkes.

Daily Echo:

Speaking at London Stadium, reflecting on another set-piece goal conceded, Ward-Prowse said: “We talk about detail every day sort of in general play but also in the set-pieces but it’s been a real weakness of ours.

“Not only this season but for the last couple of seasons. It’s just a couple of mistakes on the set pieces and the ball ends up in the back end, then the game is a lot more difficult from there.

“So it's fine margins everywhere, but especially at the back. If we can even keep the ball out of our net, that gives us more of a chance to win games.”

Ward-Prowse added: “We've had a lot of changes this year with set-piece set-ups, we've had three or four different ways of doing it. So I think that consistency is needed for us to really be strong at something.

“But that's not to do with us, we have to make sure that whatever set-up we're given, we're diligent with it, we stick to it and put it out there on the pitch and we didn’t do it here.”

Saints now face a tough task if they are to land Premier League football for next season. They are four points adrift of safety with nine matches to play.

Up next, Selles’s side face English champions and title-chasers Manchester City at St Mary’s. They have already beaten Pep Guardiola’s side in 2023.

“It's a tough game of course, but we've shown that we can do it before,” Ward-Prowse said, referencing the EFL Cup quarter-final win in January.

“We've got a habit of always coming out against those top teams and putting something different in than what we did on Sunday.

“I don't know why, but we're going to have to make sure every game from now towards the end of the season that we will do that for sure.”