Southampton captain Adam Lallana has hailed his side's current crop of players as the best that he has worked with during his time at the club.

Lallana is currently the Saints' longest-serving player having joined them as a 12-year-old in 2000 and has seen them get relegated from the Premier League to League One and then bounce back through the divisions.

Southampton now sit fourth in the Premier League after a fine start to the season, and Lallana is eager for his side to focus on moving even further up the table rather than looking over their shoulders.

"This is the most confident, best squad I've been involved in, competition for places. Even though we weren't at our best on Sunday we still won against Swansea. That's the sign of a good team and hopefully we can keep that going for the future," Lallana told PA.

"For however long we're in fourth we're going to want to stay there and look up, we're not going to look behind us. That's the same as any team. You don't want to look behind you, you just want to look up. Whilst we're in fourth position we're going to want to stay there and win our next game."

The 25-year-old scored the opening goal in his side's 2-0 win over Swansea City yesterday and is keen to continue his recent good form.

"I'm working hard. The manager is pushing me harder and harder I enjoy working hard and working for him. He's getting the best out of me and I just want it to continue," Lallana added.

"I've always wanted to add more goals to my game and I've never been worried about anything. I just want to continue working hard and being part of a successful winning team. As long as we're winning games it's not vital who gets the goals."

Southampton have kept five clean sheets in their seven matches so far and boast the stingiest defence in the league with just two goals conceded.