RYAN Bertrand revealed that manager Mauricio Pellegrino “really got hold of us and got us into shape” in the lead up to Saints’ huge 4-1 win over Everton at St Mary’s.

Saints looked a beaten and despondent outfit after losing at Liverpool 3-0 last weekend, but Pellegrino got his team together and galvanised them ahead of the thrashing of the Toffees.

It was a big reason for the win, according to Bertrand.

“It was just getting back to basics: a refresher. We got back to basics. It was nothing drastic and the manager really got hold of us and got us into shape and we gave him that performance,” Bertrand said.

Part of the team’s meetings during the week were to pull together as a unit and create a change of attitude.

The left-back said: “It was easy to fix. We just needed a refresher and start really putting the work in. Small adjustments paid dividends.”

“We put that all to bed during the week. We got together as a group and analysed what we needed to do and do more and we came together and put a good performance on for everyone.”

“It wasn’t a serious one,” he added, talking about the discussions.  “There is no danger but we’ve done well the last few years and we’ve got big expectations now, so we weren’t happy with a lot of things.

“Everyone thought we should have more and deserve more, so we needed to get back to that.”

The 28-year-old reckons the Everton win, which saw Charlie Austin score twice and Steven Davis and Dusan Tadic net one goal apiece, is a turning point in their season - and lifts the pressure they’ve been feeling at St Mary’s recently.

Bertrand, who has helped Saints to three successive top eight finishes in his spell at the club, believes they’ve been battling to deal with the high expectations that Saints’ success in recent seasons has put upon them.

“There’s that expectation there now. We’ve had so many solid seasons since I’ve got to the club. We’ve experienced fantastic seasons, consistently finishing comfortably within the top ten. I’m not just talking top ten, but right up there,” he said.

“What comes with that is expectation and we have to keep the level and that’s what we want to get back to.”

He continued: “You have to be realistic but I think reaching top ten is realistic. We need to do that but consistently; not just scrape it in there but be there convincingly.

“When you think of the league it should be a no brainer to put Southampton in there - in the top eight even.”

During the recent run prior to the Everton victory Saints had won once in seven games and there were fears Pellegrino’s men were heading for a relegation scrap.

But the squad had faith that it wouldn’t get to that.

Bertrand said: “It’s never been like that. I’ve been around all situations in my career and nothing ever like that has come into the thought process here.

“Even though we’ve been on not such a good run, if you look at it we’re far better than most teams in this league, so it was only a matter of time.

“Notoriously we always have a little dip before Christmas and always manage to come out of it no matter what the fixtures.”

Bertrand is now looking forward to testing themselves against Premier League leaders Manchester City on Wednesday night at the Etihad Stadium.

“Definitely, now we’ll go there Wednesday and give a good account of ourselves,” he said, when asked if the Everton win is a turning point.

“They’re doing well at the moment. We’ll look to build on this and go into the game at the weekend hopefully building on what we do on Wednesday.”

“We’ve got the win and on Everton’s form we were expected to win. Let’s go and test ourselves and test them and go there and really test ourselves in the game and enjoy it.”