Players’ fault it’s Pell hell

SHANE LONG has told his teammates they cannot hide behind under-fire boss Mauricio Pellegrino.

Pellegrino is shouldering the blame for Southampton’s poor form, which continued with Tuesday’s 2-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace when Long (above) broke his 34-game goal drought.

It extended Saints’ winless run to nine games with only goal difference keeping them out of the bottom three.

Pellegrino was subjected to “sacked in the morning” chants but Long said: “We can’t put it on the manager’s head – everyone has to take a bit of the blame. It’s on the players heads as well.

“Confidence is low but we just need to pick ourselves up.”