PUNDIT Jamie Carragher admitted he has been left frustrated when watching Saints pass out from the back.

Russell Martin's Southampton are winless in their first three games of the Premier League campaign having given away four goals during build-up play.

Saints handed Brentford two goals last Saturday in a 3-1 defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium before failing to deal with a long throw.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, former Liverpool defender Carragher explained how he has seen signs that Saints are not playing the ball forward quickly enough.

He said: "The whole point of playing out from the back, and Pep Guardiola has said this, it's not about making the football look pretty - he thinks it gives them the best chance to win the game.

"The point is to try and make the pitch as big as possible so that you can entice somebody onto you and then you can get there (play forward into someone).

"My frustration with this is, and I've seen it a little bit at Southampton at the start of this season, once you are out you need to get it forward.

"What a lot of teams do now is they go man for man. It's a great opportunity for you to score if a team is playing out. If you win it there, you've got a great chance of scoring.

"If you can work an opportunity you can go three vs three if you've left your front three forward."

Saints return to Premier League action with a home fixture against Manchester United following the international break.