Maya Yoshida is ready to fight for his place at Southampton.

New £15m signing Wesley Hoedt has partnered Yoshida in the last two games, but Virgil van Dijk is likely to come back in at some point soon and Jack Stephens is another top notch option at central defence.

“It's really tough," he said. “I understand because Virgil is one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League, so I have to keep showing my good performance to the manager, to the fans and bring good results to the team.

“This is the only thing I can do.

“If you think about Wesley, Virgil ... blah, blah, blah ... there's no point for me. I just have to focus on myself and keep playing well."