Teams are scared to come to St. Mary's - Ward-Prowse

Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse believes that teams are scared to come to St. Mary's after the club's recent run of form that sees them unbeaten in six games without conceding a goal.

Ward-Prowse spoke to Southampton's YouTube channel as he took part in BT Sport's 'Saints Connect' project which sees young teenagers from the city's disadvantaged communities receive opportunities in sport, music and art.

Saints welcome Chelsea to St. Mary's on Saturday as last season's champions look to continue their unbeaten Premier League record under Guus Hiddink. But Ward-Prowse believes that Chelsea will be scared when they arrive on the south coast at the weekend.

He said: "I think a lot of teams will be scared coming to St. Mary's at the minute and that's the way we want it to continue.

"I think we're always going to score goals. We've got quality players up front and you've seen in the recent games that we've got an array of talent up front with a variety of things that they offer. As long as we're solid defensively and big Frase [Fraser Forster] keeps up his form there's no reason we can't continue the way we're going."

The England Under 21 international says that the Saints will not be distracted by Chelsea's poor season or their league standing.

"Irrespective of their league position, they've got top quality players. They've shown glimpses this season of why they're champions and it's up to us to put a stop to that and make sure that they don't carry on their form and we can carry on ours.

"We're full of confidence. We've had six giood results and we've been solid defensively. I think if we can carry that on against a good Chelsea team. No matter where they are in the league, they've got quality players. We're very confident that we can shut them out and continue our goalscoring form."

Southampton were victorious in the return fixture when they came from behind to beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. Ward-Prowse believes that whilst it was a good memory, a lot has changed since that game.

"I think it's nice to have a memory but it's a totally different game, totally different standings now. It's up to us to try and replicate what we did. It was a great day. The fans really did get behind us that day and gave us that support to go on and score the goals. If we can perform like that, there's no reason why we can't go on and get another win."

The game against Chelsea on Saturday marks the beginning of an eight day period which consists of three matches for the Saints. The Saints academy product has labelled the period as a "defining" part of the season for the club.

"We've already spoken in the dressing room about setting our sights and what we want to achieve. I'm sure we can achieve what we want to as long as we keep working hard for each other.

"I think we can look back it at the end of the season and it could be a defining period for us.  I know all the lads and the staff want to get the club back into Europe and I think these three games could be pivotal towards that."