Southampton looks to change fortunes against Palace

Steven Davis hopes Southampton can use the frustration brought about by their poor start to the Premier League as a catalyst against Crystal Palace.

Southampton has just one win from their opening four games, which included a 2-0 home defeat to Watford last Saturday.

More troubling is the continued lack of confidence in front of goals — a tally that stands at just three this season, with all of them coming against West Ham.

“We know we can do a lot better,” Davis told the Official Southampton FC Website. “There’s a lot of anger and disappointment with the way we played but we need to stick together now.

“We’ve got a lot more quality than what we showed against Watford and it’s about going out and proving that now.”

Southampton looks to take advantage of Crystal Palace’s own woes. The Eagles are winless in their own league campaign and haven’t struck in the league, which led to the premature sacking of manager Frank De Boer.

Davis, however, isn’t expecting Palace to simply roll over and give Southampton a boost to ignite their season.

“They’ve still got a lot of quality players who can hurt you and Selhurst Park isn’t an easy place to go. The crowd always gets right behind them,” he said.

“We’ll be expecting their players, with a new manager potentially coming in, to give their best and try to get themselves out of the position they’re in now.”