Davis impressed by Puel’s Saints impact

Since losing to a last-gasp penalty at Arsenal earlier this month, Southampton simply can’t stop winning and midfielder Steven Davis is convinced boss Claude Puel’s new-look philosophy is starting to pay off.

Last weekend’s 3-0 win against West Ham at the Olympic Park saw Southampton rack up their fourth straight win in all competitions and Davis insists the feel-good factor on the South Coast is getting better and better by the day.

Having seen a new manager come in during the summer with differing ideas and techniques, Southampton’s recent form suggests they have adapted well to his methods.

“We just need to continue to try to build the momentum,” said Davis.

Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images

“I think we’ve seen improvements each game. Obviously, it was always going to take a little bit of time to get used to the new system, and I think we’re adapting to it well now and we understand our roles and responsibilities a lot better.

“It was nice to go out and put on a performance like we did and come away with the right result.

“Whenever you get off to a slow start and you’re not getting the results then of course you question things, but the manager has his philosophy on how he wants to do things and it was important all the lads bought into that, and you can see that now, especially after a good run of games with four wins on the bounce.

“You can see everybody believes in it, there’s more confidence in the team and we’re getting back to hopefully where we should be.”