Southampton boss Claude Puel was pleased with the form of his defenders in the wake of Thursday night's 0-0 draw with Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

The Saints added to consecutive clean sheets against West Ham United (3-0), Crystal Palace (2-0), Swansea City (1-0) and Sparta Praha (3-0) as they gained a valuable away point in the Europa League in Israel.

Puel told southamptonfc.com: "We have a good defence because of all the players. We have a good transition when we lose possession.

"It's important because we didn't have many possibilities to score but you can see that we stayed strong to get the result."

Matt Targett, Virgil van Dijk, Maya Yoshida and Cuco Martina were the back four on this occasion, defending Fraser Forster's goal successfully as the Saints remained top of the Group K table.