Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has claimed that his players need to improve their 'mentality and attitude' after suffering back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.

The Saints followed up their 2-1 loss to Chelsea with a 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

This weekend, Southampton will take on Sunderland at St Mary's.

"Normally I like to defend my players, I am enjoying my role as the manager of this club, but sometimes you need to say what you think at that moment," the Daily Mail quotes Koeman as saying. "The start of the [Bournemouth] game was not good and if you start like that you cause yourself problems.

"They are not stupid, they know they were not good on Tuesday. You have to change your mentality, you have to change your attitude. We need a good game this Saturday.

"The Premier League is really a tough competition, if you are not 100% prepared then you do not win."

Southampton are currently ninth in the Premier League table.