Pellè pleased to kick off season with a bang

The third qualifying round first leg success puts Saints in control ahead of the return fixture at Vitesse next Thursday, with Pellè’s goal getting Ronald Koeman’s men on the march.

The striker, who scored five goals in pre-season ahead of Thursday night’s game, finished powerfully from Sadio Mané’s pass before strikes from Dušan Tadić and Shane Long sealed the win.

“I’m always negative with myself, but now it’s the beginning of the season and it was our first official game,” Pellè told youtube.com/southamptonfc.

“It was important to win. We did really well. We didn’t receive any goals and we scored three. It’s a good start for us and we can keep improving from this.

“For a striker, the more you score the more confidence you have, but I’m always positive. Last year, even when I didn’t have the goals in a few games I still had confidence in myself.

“My teammates always help me and we have an amazing group,” he continued.

“Sadio gave me an amazing assist. Then it’s my job to score the goals and I will try to do my best this season and score as many as possible.”

The 3-0 victory puts Saints in command ahead of the second leg, but Pellè doesn’t want to approach the game any differently despite the advantage.

“There is no difference for me if we are home or away,” Pellè added. “Our mentality is always to win. Our game doesn’t have to change.

“Of course the entire stadium won’t be on our side, but our job is on the field. We have to do the best we can in the away game to make sure we get to the next round.”