Fraser Forster is adamant that the Southampton squad remains “full of confidence” despite going three games without a win, including successive defeats against Manchester City and Arsenal.

The England international goalkeeper, who moved to St Mary’s from Celtic in the summer, had helped the Saints to their best-ever Premier League start as they sat in second place behind unbeaten leaders Chelsea with 25 points from their opening 11 games.

However, a battling draw at struggling Aston Villa has been followed by a 3-0 home defeat against reigning champions Manchester City and a late 1-0 loss at Arsenal in midweek.

The Saints are still well placed in third spot as they look forward to another tough assignment on Monday night when Manchester United arrive at St Mary’s on the back of a four-match winning run.

Forster felt the Saints were unlucky to lose at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, while he is adamant that they are keen to get back to winning ways against Louis van Gaal’s Red Devils.

He said: “Obviously, it was cruel to concede late on, but there was a lot we could take from the game and if we play like that on Monday night at home it will be a very good game.

“We’ll be full of confidence. We can take so many positives from the game at Arsenal and if we can play like that against a lot of teams we will pick up points.

“It’s just important we believe in ourselves. The manager does. We’re so together as a club that it’s frightening. It’s just important that we hold our heads up high and move on.”

The Saints are 2.60 to win on Monday, while United can be backed at 2.67 and the draw is 3.22.