KEVIN Danso maintains the full confidence of Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The Austrian defender arrived at St Mary’s on the last day of the transfer window and is yet to make his mark in the Premier League.

Having joined as a central defender, he’s been restricted to playing out of position, although the 21-year-old hasn’t featured since the beginning of last month.

Asked if it’s taken longer for Danso to adjust than he expected, Hasenhuttl replied: “It’s difficult, the Premier League has a very high level.

“He’s a young player still improving his game. He came in in a very difficult situation, the team was not really well balanced in that moment.

“It was struggling in defence and not easy for him to come in. He has potential, good basic fundamentals and physical strength.

“He must develop his game and we will help him. He would like to play more but we have now found a first XI that has played the last four games.

“The automatism they are building is the reason we didn’t rotate even though we had three games in a week. They did it well three times, so we stayed with the same squad and did it well three times.”

Due to Yan Valery missing tomorrow’s match against West Ham with a viral infection, it has opened the door for Danso to return to the squad.

Even though his record at right-back isn’t great, Hasenhuttl knows he doesn’t have many options to fill the void left by Valery.

However, Saints’ boss revealed that Danso has also been struggling with his fitness.

“Kevin played one time at right back, it’s not his best position,” explained Hasenhuttl.

“He played against Bournemouth and it wasn’t a fantastic game for him.

“He’s more a centre back than a right back but in the end, there are not as many alternatives at right and left back so it’s good to have him in the squad.

“Last game he had problems with his knees, so he wasn’t in the squad. This week he could train and hopefully he stays fit.”

Danso has initially joined Saints on loan for the season, however, the St Mary’s side have an exclusive option to buy him next summer.