Koeman plays down top four talk

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has played down the club's chances of qualifying for the Champions League following their 2-0 win over Bournemouth.

Goals from Steven Davis and Graziano Pelle saw the Saints claim a comfortable victory at St Mary's and moved the club to within four points of Manchester United in fourth place following the Red Devils' goalless draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Koeman, though, does not believe they will be able to pip Louis van Gaal's side to a Champions League place and fully expects them to emerge from their slump sooner rather than later.

"My experience is they are struggling at the moment but they will not struggle until the end of the season," he is quoted as saying by the Belfast Telegraph.

"They will come back because they have great managers and great players and maybe one day they will be more lucky than they have been so far. It is difficult, it is too early to make conclusion about that.

"We are 11 games in, still 27 to play. It is a long way but we know we can play good football and we can be competitive with the big clubs in the Premier League."