Mauricio Pellegrino vows to keep his philosophy at Southampton

Mauricio Pellegrino has vowed to stick with his football philosophy at Southampton, despite eight games without a win.

Defender Maya Yoshida recently admitted the situation at Southampton was worse under Pellegrino than his predecessor Claude Puel, while former Saints midfielder Jamie Redknapp described the club's 5-2 defeat at Tottenham on Boxing Day as "woeful".

But Southampton held Manchester United to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford on Saturday, and Pellegrino urged patience with his charges ahead of the visit of Crystal Palace on Tuesday.

"One thing is to have a squad with quality, another is to have 11 players competing as a unit with togetherness," he said.

"To build a team that plays football well is something completely different to having good players. This is my goal from the first day.

"Sometimes we did well, sometimes we did bad, but I will continue fighting for my ideas. I am happy but we have to continue improving."

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Visitors Crystal Palace (17th) have moved out of the relegation zone under manager Roy Hodgson, having lost just once in their last nine games.

Southampton are just two points ahead in 13th, though, and Pellegrino is wary of their opponents' progress.

"We have to try to keep going from the performance against Manchester United because the Premier League is really tight," he said.

"But Crystal Palace are getting better, improving a lot, for both teams it will be a massive game."