Southampton boss Ronald Koeman ready for season-defining week

Ronald Koeman has admitted that Southampton's next two Premier League matches could define their season.

The Saints travel to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday before hosting Crystal Palace in midweek as they look to keep pace in the race for the Champions League.

A 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool last weekend saw them drop out of the top four, but Koeman still feels that they are well equipped to maintain their challenge if they can rediscover their goalscoring touch after three blanks in four games.

"We will play a lot for our chances for a high position in the table in the next two games. We have to realise that," he told reporters.

"We have to be prepared for that. I think we're doing well, if you go back to the game against Liverpool, we played well.

"We deserved much more than we got. Now it's about being more effective. That's maybe the question at the moment. We're not effective enough to score and to win games. [But] the total feel of the team? I am happy."

Take a look at Sports Mole's assessment of the fiercely-contested top-four race.