Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand accepts his side’s top-four hopes appear slim – but he is not ready to give up just yet.

Saints secured a 2-0 win over Hull on Saturday to move to within five points of fourth-placed Manchester City, who lost at Manchester United on Sunday.

Bertrand believes it will be hard to catch City but hopes Southampton can go on a winning run between now and the end of the season.

The defender feels a place in Europe’s top competition could still be on the cards for the St Mary’s side, although he concedes fourth spot remains City’s to lose.

“It’s a big ask (to catch Manchester City) but we just have to keep going,” he told the Express. “We have six games left and the aim is to win them all and see where that leaves us.

“It was good to get a win [against Hull] and to keep the positive season going that we’ve had. It was a good win. It was good to get another clean sheet.

“Defensively we are very happy as a team as a whole, it was good to get a couple of goals this week as well.

“It wasn’t our best performance but we still managed to put in a solid display and win 2-0 and keep another clean sheet. We had to be patient.”

Southampton travel to City in the final round of fixtures in a clash that could be crucial to both side’s top four hopes, although Liverpool and Spurs are not out of the running just yet either.

Southampton are 11.00 to finish in the top four, Liverpool are 6.50 and Spurs are 67.00, while City are priced at 1.08.