Eljero Elia has admitted that a poor start cost Southampton during their 2-0 defeat to Leicester City.

The Saints conceded twice inside the opening 20 minutes at the King Power Stadium on Saturday as their winless run in the Premier League was extended to four matches.

"We didn't start good in the first 10, 20 minutes," Elia told the club's official website. "Then the whole game we have control. Sometimes they come out, but we control the game more. You know it is hard to score a goal because they have 11 men behind the ball.

"You know it is really hard if you don't start the game good. We know it in the game before, the game before that and today it happened again.

"The first thing is that maybe we are not going 100% in the duels and then we lose the duels first 20 minutes. After that we won the duels and we make the game, but we cannot create chances – only shoot from distance."

Southampton have the chance to get back to winning ways this weekend when they welcome Aston Villa to St Mary's Stadium.