Stuart Armstrong has offered his apologies to the Southampton fans who witnessed a poor display from their side as they slipped to defeat at Brentford.
Saints have now won just one of their past 10 Premier League games and, following this latest 3-0 loss, they are still not mathematically safe from relegation.
Chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” and “you’re getting sacked in the morning” rained down on manager Ralph Hasenhuttl as the travelling supporters vocalised their disappointment.
Hasenhuttl said after the game he understood their frustrations, with goals from Pontus Jansson, Yoane Wissa and Kristoffer Ajer condemning Southampton to another loss.
Armstrong, too, sympathised with the supporters.
“We were really poor,” he told the club’s official website.
“Apologies to the fans who came and supported and stayed to the end and kept singing all the way through. It must have been a hard watch.
“The first 15 minutes we created a good foothold in the game and created chances. We felt comfortable in possession and the problem was we didn’t score; they went up the pitch and did.”
A remarkable set of results would have to occur to conspire to relegate Southampton, who face title-chasing Liverpool and a trip to Leicester in their last two games.
But Armstrong is keen to address the worrying slump in form before the end of the campaign.
“It’s a tough one,” he added.
“We always work hard but now we need something more and we need to win games. Our form has been very poor recently and everyone knows it.
“Everyone would love more consistency within the form and within the games. The good form seems a long time ago now, it was about nine games ago.”
Ajer’s first Brentford goal wrapped up the points for the Bees, who could yet end their first Premier League season with a top-half finish.
“Our target doesn’t change,” Ajer said.
“Our target has always been to try and get as high as possible and we know that we are going to Everton and playing at home to Leeds.
“For us it is all about getting six points if we can, we want to aim as high as possible and we take every game as seriously as the games we have played recently.
“It will be two very tough games, I assure you of that.”
Asked about his first goal, the Norway defender added: “To be fair I don’t remember a lot about it, it was an emotional moment for me.
“I have dreamt about this my whole life. Running down to the corner and seeing my fiancee in the stands was incredible.”
