Charlie Austin: 'Southampton have been naive'

Forward Charlie Austin has claimed that Southampton have been "naive" in their efforts to avoid relegation to the Championship.

Ahead of Saturday's Premier League fixture with Chelsea, Southampton sit in 18th position in the standings and three points adrift of safety.

Austin says that he remains surprised to see the Saints fighting for survival, but has suggested that the first-team squad have not shown the correct attitude throughout this campaign.

The 28-year-old told Sky Sports News: "Am I surprised? Yes, but we have under-performed and if you do that in the Premier League you find yourself slipping away.

"You say 'it won't happen to us, it won't happen to us, it won't happen to us' and the next minute you are in the bottom three. We have won five games, that's not good enough for a club like Southampton.

"As a group of players, it's been naive, thinking we can just turn up and it will happen - 'we'll be ok, we've got the players to get out of this mess' - and as the weeks have gone by we haven't made any progress."

Southampton are currently without a win in six matches in the top flight.