Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has praised his Southampton team-mates for producing their best performance of the campaign in Sunday's 1-0 Premier League defeat of Everton.

Speaking to Southampton's official website, Hojbjerg said: "It was a step up.

"We didn't win for a couple of games and now we got it. A clean sheet and a 1-0 is always the sign of a good team.

"It was not only after Europa League but after the Premier League games, because we didn't have a win in three or four games.

"Although we got a good result against Liverpool, (defeating Everton) was good.

"It was nice and 41 seconds we scored a fantastic goal. The first half was high intensity and the second half was a bit more long balls and fighting in the back lines.

"We got the win and we can all sleep well.

"We showed again we are a very solid team. The back four had a fantastic match but the whole was pressing fantastic which the coach mentioned.

"Even the strikers were pressing and helping the team to make the job easier for us."