JANNIK Vestergaard believes he has "performed well in the past couple of months" as he continues to battle for his starting spot at Saints.

The centre-back was handed his first start of the season on Saturday, helping Saints get off the mark for the campaign with a 1-0 success against Burnley.

The 28-year-old only had 45 minutes of action under his belt up to that point this term, impressing as a second-half substitute on the opening day at Crystal Palace.

But he could do nothing to prevent the loss at Selhurst Park and had to sit and watch from the bench as Saints were then beaten by Brentford and Tottenham, with Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek the preferred central defensive duo.

However, Hvidovre-born Vestergaard took the spot of Stephens for the Burnley battle and played a key role in Saints keeping a clean sheet and taking maximum points to move off the bottom of the embryonic Premier League table.

“It was a tough game, as it is in Burnley," Vestergaard told the Daily Echo.

"But we fought as a team, we defended their threats really well and I think we deserved the win.

“I still think we have room for improvement but, all-in-all, it’s a satisfying win.

“Since it’s the first win, sometimes you just have to accept the circumstances and then fight your way out of it.

“We all know we can get better and that we could maybe kill the game during the second half when the spaces open up for a counter-attack, if we keep our heads a bit cooler.

“But all-in-all it was a hard-fought game. Everyone contributed. Strikers, wingers, everyone contributed and it was a team win.

“I haven’t beaten Burnley since I got here, so it was nice for me to finally beat them."

Discussing his recall to the side, Vestergaard added: “It’s good. I feel in good shape and think I have performed well in the past couple of months.

“I feel confident and it’s good being on the pitch with the clean sheet, as a defender that’s always a big positive."

Saints host West Brom on Sunday (12pm), in their final game before a two-week break due to international fixtures, where Vestergaard could feature three times for Denmark having been called up for their latest squad.

Asked if the win at Burnley can give Saints a platform moving forwards, the centre-back said: “It has to be a boost, nothing else. We went to a tough place, got a win and we know we can still get better.

“We know we have to train hard and work hard in training to improve - which is necessary if we are going to continue winning.

“It’s good winning and knowing you can still get better because that’s definitely the case."

Quizzed on how much better this squad can get, Vestergaard added: "I think we show glimpses of it. We kept the ball well, we exposed the spaces that were open and created chances.

“Our goal was well played and I think in the second half when Burnley were going to gamble a bit and throw people forward, I think we could have done better on the counter attacks."