Ralph Hasenhuttl insists that conceding late goals is not merely “a Southampton phenomenon” and that he has faith his team can defend until the end of matches.

Watford’s 90th minute equaliser at Vicarage Road was the 14th goal Saints have let in from 80 minutes onwards this season.

Those goals have cost them 15 points which would put Saints seventh in the table going into the final three games of the season.

Even though it is unrealistic to expect a team not to ever concede in the closing stages when the pressure is often highest, it is a worrying trend for Saints, who have only scored five times and gained four points in the final ten minutes.

However, Hasenhuttl is philosophical about the issue.

He said: “I think we had this topic at times in the season sometimes.

“There were really special games, I remember the Burnley game and the Cardiff game and then it was gone for a time.

“It’s not a Southampton phenomenon, it’s something that you see generally in this season in the Premier League.

“I cannot remember how many games were won or lost in overtime – not just by us.

“Maybe, yes, we dropped a lot of points in this last period of the game.

“In the last game we were very long in the lead, nearly 90 minutes, and in the end they didn’t have a lot of chances but it’s normal you get a little bit tired and then the concentration is going down a little bit and that’s the reason why in the last 15 minutes of games most of the goals happen. It’s not a coincidence.

“The main part is that we know we can defend until the end.

“Sometimes like on Tuesday we received a goal but in the last weeks we showed that we are concentrated until the end.

“Maybe the pressure in the last game in the end was very high and that why maybe it was only a question of time when the equaliser comes but I have not the feeling that the guys are worried about the last minutes. Absolutely not.

“We are not the only team that loses points in the last minutes.”