EXPERIENCED attacker Theo Walcott has insisted that the youthful Saints squad must take personal responsibility and that there can be no ‘hand-holding’ as they edged closer to the drop with Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Despite a decent opening half an hour, Saints folded after the break as Eberechi Eze struck twice in the second half to condemn Ruben Selles’s side to their third-straight defeat.

The result leaves Saints bottom of the Premier League table but the gap to safety remains at four points though following Everton’s 3-1 defeat to Fulham.

READ MORE: Three young players Saints should build around next season

And as Saints move closer and closer to the Championship for the first time since 2012, Walcott has pleaded for the squad to remain positive and ignore outside noise while taking responsibility for their own personal performances.

“Of course, it’s disappointing,” the 34-year-old said on Saturday afternoon. “I had a really good chance and should have done a lot better so I take responsibility for that. 

“But you need to get the first goal in the Premier League otherwise it’s an uphill battle. We’re a team who don’t score many goals anyway. I think we actually were playing pretty good football in the first half, we just needed that goal. 

“Then when they scored I think it took the stuffing out of us a little bit, especially the way we started the second half, a bit disappointing from all of us. We never really recovered from it for whatever reason. 

“But essentially we need to try and stay as positive as we can. It’s a really difficult situation obviously, there’s rumbles going on in the background as well which is frustration and I get it.

"As players we understand the frustration, we see it, but we need to stay positive and not start pointing fingers cause that won’t get us anywhere.”

The full-time whistle on Saturday was met with boos by those who stayed at St Mary’s for the conclusion of another disappointing afternoon while there were smatterings of chants including ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ during the team’s meek surrender.

Asked further by the Daily Echo about the ‘rumblings’ he mentioned, Walcott responded: “It just is what it is. When you’re at the bottom of the table there’s going to be a lot of disappointment, a lot of frustration, a lot of anger. Which is fine, I get it, we understand.

“We don’t go in wanting to lose games, we want to win. We want to do it for our fans, for each other, for our families and it’s not working at the moment.

Daily Echo: Theo Walcott reacts after missing a chance to make it 1-0 against Crystal Palace.Theo Walcott reacts after missing a chance to make it 1-0 against Crystal Palace. (Image: Richard Crease)

“We will all stick together as a group and that’s all we can do. We can’t let the outside world affect us.

"We have to stay in our bubble essentially and look after each other. Don’t start pointing fingers, that will get us nowhere, there would be little cliques and we would just hit a wall. And we don’t want that.

"Because we still have points to play for. I want to stay really positive in a difficult situation. Because if you stay negative then it’s just a downward spiral.”

Saints now have seven games to save their Premier League status and with fixtures still to play against Arsenal, Newcastle United, Brighton, and Liverpool - the first three of those away from home - it will be a mammoth challenge to get out of the hole they find themselves in.

“There will be a big group of us that will try to build morale,” Walcott said of what comes next as Saints attempt to regroup from a damaging defeat. 

“The manager is the main part of that, of course. The older guys and experienced players will try and do their best in a difficult time. But you have to take a little bit of responsibility for yourself as players and build yourself up. It’s not just down to the older players and the manager. 

“You need to be able to work and we can’t be holding each other’s hands all the time. We’re there to help but you have to help yourself as well. 

“Essentially we’re at that stage now and players will realise that and if they haven’t realised it already, then we’re finished. It’s a very interesting journey we’ve been on this season, there’s been a lot of change, a lot of disruption, a lot of discomfort for people.”