Wilkin believes win is not too far away

Craig Fleming’s side were denied a draw away to West Ham United last weekend, as the Hammers scored a 90th-minute winner.

Saints’ youngsters welcome Norwich City to the Staplewood Campus this weekend and Wilkin hopes that a win can kick-start a positive end to the campaign.

“I think the performance was there at the weekend, but we fought hard and were just unlucky with the result,” Wilkin told youtube.com/southamptonfc.

“Performances have been improving over recent weeks, so leading up to this game we believe we can get a good result.

“We’ve definitely got confidence going into this weekend and it has been a good week of training so we’re confident we can get a result.

“We’ve had quite a disappointing season so far, but we’re looking to try and end this run of games well with a couple of good results to push us up a little bit in the table.

“For us second years it’s a hard part of the season. We have to look to try and lead the team and get a couple of good results in the last few games.”

And what will Saints need to improve if they are to see off the Canaries? “We’re looking for the same kind of performance, but with a bit more quality in the final third to add to the goals tally,” Wilkin explained.

“We also need to try and keep it tight at the back. We’ve been working on it in training this week – trying to keep the goals out, be hard to beat and defend well.

“We want to try and take that all into this weekend. Norwich will be a tough team to play, but the draw earlier in the season gives us confidence going into the game.”