Charlie Austin admits Southampton have ‘a mountain to climb’ if they are to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

The Saints have only won one of their last 18 top-flight games and Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at relegation rivals West Ham leaves them marooned in the bottom three and two points adrift of safety.

Forward Austin played 83 minutes of the defeat at the London Stadium after three months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, but he barely got a sniff during the contest.

The 28-year-old was understandably frustrated after the match and he acknowledged that his side have a mountain to climb if they are to avoid relegation to the Championship.

“It just wasn’t good enough, we need to pull our finger out and do it sharpish,” Austin said.

“There are seven games to go and we’ve given ourselves a mountain to climb. We’ve got to win fast and get out of the hole we’re in.

“We’re fortunate that results are half going our way, to keep everyone around it.

We need the fans to believe we can get out of this mess. We have seven games to go now.”

Mark Hughes’ side still have the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City to play during their final seven league games of the campaign.

Indeed, the Saints next match is a clash with the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium next weekend and they are priced at 5.50 to secure a victory from that contest, while the North Londoners are available at 1.57 and the draw is on offer at 4.33.