Southampton boss gives brutal verdict on relegation scrap and his future at club

Southampton manager Ivan Juric gave a pretty damning report of his side's chances of survival.

Juric went as far to say that Southampton will 'absolutely not' be a Premier League club next season.

Just minutes after his side lost for the 24th time in the top-flight this season, Juric had no hopes for the Saints' Premier League future.

Even speaking of his own future, Juric said it was 'not the moment' to discuss that.

"I think that I have a contract, the club will decide what they want" he said.

On whether he regrets taking the job at St Mary's, he said: "No, no. It's a huge experience, a bad experience, but it's experience and in life you have to do experience.

"This one is maybe the worst that I've had as a coach and it's a bad situation, but I don't regret [it]."

On how he intends to keep everyone at the club going through such a torrid spell, he explained: "I've never been in this situation, but this is the moment that you have to be tough, work hard, and not just me and the staff, even the players."

Juric added that his players were 'not good enough' in the 2-1 defeat to Wolves at home on Saturday afternoon.

Many criticised Juric's decision to not start with a named striker, which he justified.

"We [had] some really good games playing with with Matheus [Fernandes] and with [Tyler] Dibling and with [Kamaldeen] Sulemana and we create.

"We have really good games with these three guys when we play against [three in defence].

"Today they were not good enough for me. There was a moment that we should play much better, much faster, and we didn't do it" he said.

On Southampton's hopes of remaining in the Premier League next season, Juric said: "No, no, absolutely no, it's no, no, no."

Southampton are currently languishing in 20th in the league with just nine points from 29 games so far this season.

They face a tough run of fixtures ahead too, hosting in-form Crystal Palace before a trip to Tottenham and clashes with Aston Villa and West Ham.

Despite nine games still to play, it will need some strong performances from the Saints to climb out of the relegation zone.