Mauricio Pellegrino has engraved his trust into centre-half Wesley Hoedt, whom he signed last summer from Lazio, since the departure of Virgil van Dijk and the Dutch defender hasn't failed to disappoint since slotting into his cemented first-team place.

The 23 year-old has, however, realised one victory does not mean Southampton are out of the dumps and that there is a long way to strive before the club can think about solidifying their Premier League status for another top-flight campaign.

Hoedt was in the starting line-up for the win at foot-of-the-table West Bromwich Albion last weekend, but whilst the team's performance played a major role in accumulating the three points, the centre-back has admitted the away support on Saturday was a pivotal factor in the squad's hunt for a much-needed triumph.

''I think the fans are the most important piece of the game''

Pellegrino's men were backed by a strong away following in the Midlands and the positivity amongst the club's strongest faithful is slowly returning, with Wesley Hoedt eager to see the supporters to turn up in numbers ahead of the crucial home game against Liverpool on Sunday; ''The home support is going to be very important. We need the fans behind us; if they do that then we can go out on the pitch and try and win as many points as possible.''

The Saints currently lie in a worrying position of 15th in the Premier League table, just a measly two points above the bottom three and it is obvious that Liverpool will be a certain difficult fixture for the south coast outfit - Hoedt realises the threat of the Reds' attack, ''Liverpool have a great team but so do we. We have to be competitive and try and deliver as a good a performance as we can. We have to go all out, 100 per cent for the win.''

''I think I'm growing''

Wesley Hoedt had always been understudy to Virgil van Dijk before his fellow countryman's exit to Sunday's opponents, every so often playing alongside the former Celtic man, but he has now become first-choice centre-half sitting next to either Maya Yoshida or Jack Stephens.

The left-footed defender said this; ''It's always better to build a partnership as a centre-back, once you start learning where the other guy goes and what he is going to do and Jack and I are showing that at the moment.''

Jack Stephens has surprisingly become Southampton's prolific scorer in recent weeks, netting three out of three in all competitions - against Watford in the FA Cup as well as Brighton and West Bromwich Albion - and it would seems Hoedt has formed quite the partnership with his team-mate.

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