Dean Windass has exclusively told Football FanCast that Ralph Hasenhuttl has been a victim of his own success at Southampton.

The Austrian replaced Mark Hughes midway through the 2018-19 campaign with the Saints deep in relegation trouble, but following eight victories from their last 24 Premier League games, Hasenhuttl guided Saints to safety.

And then in his first full season at St Mary's, the former Leipzig manager recovered from the humiliating 9-0 defeat to Leicester to lead Southampton to an 11th-place finish, their best for three seasons.

However, despite the South Coast outfit topping the Premier League back in November, the campaign has been a struggle for Southampton, who've collected just 10 points from a possible 48 available in 2021, which is two fewer than already-relegated Sheffield United.

They were also beaten by Leicester in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final, but whilst Southampton sit bottom of the Premier League table for games played this calendar year, Windass doesn't believe Hasenhuttl should be under pressure.

He told Football FanCast:

"There's a lot of managers now and it will depend on how they start next seasonof next season, the first points on the board, they will want to win the first game as quickly as possible, because he's underachieved this year.

"But that's a big statement - have Southampton underachieved this season? No. But because of where they were at, and then all of a sudden they have dropped.

"If you asked Matt Le Tissier, 'are you happy with Southampton's season', he would go 'unbelievable'. Delighted. When I played Southampton were always in the bottom four or five. It's about results and staying in the Premier League."