Ruben Selles vowed Southampton will "fight until the very last point" after his side slipped closer to Premier League relegation following a damaging 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth. Marcus Tavernier's second-half winner at St Mary's left the the division's bottom club six points from safety with five games to go.
The Saints head to St James' Park on Sunday to face Eddie Howe's high-flying Newcastle, having already lost three times to United this season. The Magpies won the return Premier League fixture 4-1 at St Mary's back in November, before winning both legs of their Carabao Cup semi-final earlier this year.
And they could even be without talisman midfielder James Ward-Prowse after he came off in the second half on Thursday night with a sore throat. A painful defeat to their south-coast rivals inflicted a club-record 11th home league loss of the season on Southampton, with lingering hopes of survival fading fast. Beleaguered Saints thought they had snatched a dramatic draw but Che Adams' 89th-minute effort was disallowed for offside following VAR intervention.
READ MORE: Newcastle anger sparks Alexander Isak magic and the Anthony Gordon flex many Evertonians missed
"We are going to go and try to put a performance in every game to try to win, and we are going to do it until the very end," said Selles. "I know it's only five games to play. But we are professionals and we will fight until the very last point.
"I know now it's hard, I know the table is looking like it's a difficult one but we are going to give it a try."
Southampton lacked attacking thrust and urgency for much of a miserable evening played in soggy conditions. Aside from Adams' disallowed effort, the home side rarely threatened an equaliser following Tavernier's deflected effort in the 50th minute.
"It's a disappointing night, we came with the intention to put in a good performance and we obviously didn't," said Selles. "Some of the things that can go against us, they went against us. Even the offside goal, it's a couple of centimetres but it is offside. It was a hard night."
READ NEXT
- Newcastle's ruthless response to Everton goal, Jordan Pickford taunt and scary truth - 5 things
- Newcastle boss Eddie Howe's vision should worry Everton and it might be about to come true
- Newcastle's Financial Fair Play strategy makes even more sense after Everton's £305.9m bombshell
- Newcastle training ground development ramps up with new additions that look a 'lot better'
- Newcastle's first summer signing to come from FFP goldmine and 'serious talent' already found
