Koeman used to the pressure.

Saints boss Ronald Koeman admits that Southampton are under pressure but says he’s used to it.

Koeman was talking to the press ahead of Saturday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur at St. Mary’s.

Southampton are on a poor run of form having lost four of the last five games in all competitions as they come up against former boss Mauricio Pochettino at the weekend.

Koeman says he's under pressure but his experience has enabled him to become used to it.

"You always have pressure as a manager because you know what can happen. It’s all about football. If you win, you’re happy. If you don’t win, you’re not happy.

"I’m used to that pressure, it’s no problem. The expectations for Southampton are much higher than last year. We put our targets very high. If we can’t reach that level at the moment, you’re always under pressure."

Koeman believes his side are playing good football but demands improvement from his side to put an end to poor recent results.

"Of course, it was a disappointing result [the defeat to Crystal Palace] and disappointing results in the last few weeks. It gives always a little bit more pressure to everybody.

"We play a lot games before the end of the year. We have to improve. Still we play good football, still we create chances but the productivity is not good enough.

"I think we are struggling in scoring goals. I think our opponents are punishing us in mistakes defensively. The whole team performance, all individual performance of players is a little bit lower than what we expect."

Pochettino’s side were unbeaten in the Premier League since the opening day of the season up until last weekend when they were beaten at home to Newcastle. Koeman is expecting a difficult test when Spurs visit on Saturday afternoon.

"I think both teams like to play football, dominate the game and like to create. They didn’t win against Newcastle, they didn’t win against West Brom away. For every team it’s difficult to win. It will be a close, difficult game for both teams."

Southampton were in a Champions League’s spot this time last year but currently lie in 12^th place, 12 points off their points tally a year ago. However, Koeman believes that the current season is very close and a win on Saturday could see them move into the top half.

"If you win, you go up five or six positions in the table. If you don’t win, you fall back. I think that’s closer than ever in this Premier League so far."

Koeman also confirmed that Paulo Gazzaniga will start in goal again after his impressive performance in last weekend’s game as Maarten Stekelenburg is still injured whilst Graziano Pelle is fit again.