SAINTS boss Ruben Selles has insisted that he doesn't 'waste' his time pondering the state of the Premier League table as his side head into their final eight games in the battle to avoid the drop.

Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City leaves Saints rooted to the bottom of the table, although the gap to safety remains at four points.

However, with victories over the weekend for Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Wolves, and West Ham, Saints are threatening to be cut adrift.

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But asked about that possibility, Selles responded: "No, I don't waste my time watching the table, I think this is for a lot of other people.

"I look at my team, I try to get the very best of the situation. And we are still there, we are still alive, we can put some good performances on like today.

"I believe in what we are doing. And we are going to continue doing and continuing with it. Because we know also it is just one game. In one game, we are there."

Sandwiched either side of a tough away trip to league-leaders Arsenal, Saints host Crystal Palace and Bournemouth with the pair of St Mary's fixtures potentially decisive for their survival aspirations.

"I think the positive thing is that we showed that we are a team that can compete against anybody for a big part of the game, and against anybody, we showed it before during the last two months," Selles added. 

"I think it's also created for the unity between the technical staff and the players and we understand each other, they get the message and they execute the message.

"So that means everybody is working hard. We are going to be together until the very end of the season trying to be the very best."