Southampton star insists Saints have deserved more as pressure mounts on Russell Martin

Southampton have taken just one point from their first seven games back in the Premier League following promotion from the Championship in the playoffs last term

Cameron Archer swallowed Southampton’s sixth defeat in seven games and warned his team-mates: “Don’t let it drag us down.”

Saints’ next game after the international break is a massive home date with Leicester, and for under-pressure boss Russell Martin it could be a line-in-the-sand moment.

Archer broke his Premier League duck for the season with a slick finish to give Martin’s strugglers brief hope of a shock win at Arsenal.

But Southampton are the division’s lowest scorers, and with a prohibitive goal difference already stacking up against them, Archer knows they need to turn promise into points.

He said: “I don’t think one point from seven games is a true reflection of what we can do as a team, but when you make mistakes in the Premier League you get punished, so we need to take away those mistakes and play with more courage.”

It’s games like Leicester, rather than noble defeats at Arsenal, which will define Saints’ season, but Archer warned: “Yes, but we said that about the Bournemouth game last week and maybe we put too much pressure on ourselves.

“We need to play how we want to play, no matter who’s the opponent.”

Martin has been irritated by Saints being “written off” so early in the season, and Archer added: “It depends how you want to go about it – you can either use it as motivation or let it drag you down.

“Personally, I think you need to think positively and focus on what you need to do, which means winning games and putting points on the board.”

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