CAPTAIN Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is determined to make sure that Saints leave the Amex Stadium on Saturday with their first points of the season.

Two defeats from their opening Premier League games against Burnley and Liverpool have left Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side looking up the table.

And with fixtures in the coming weeks with Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham, Hojbjerg is keen to end their winless run at Brighton this weekend.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, the former Bayern Munich midfielder said: “I think the most important thing is trying to reach the maximum level.

“Are we happy with the points situation? Not at all.

“We are not happy at all that we have zero points, but we are still trying to be positive.

“We are still looking forward and taking it one game at a time to reach the maximum, which will be three points every single game.

“Sometimes it won’t happen, but if every single week we can get as close to our top performance, then I know we will get many points, but only then.

“For me, the key moment, like against Liverpool, is that we come as close as we can to the top performances because we can hurt many, many teams.”

The 2-1 loss to Liverpool at St Mary’s on Saturday meant that Saints haven’t won a Premier League match in their previous seven attempts – a run that stretches back to last season.

However, the last time Hasenhuttl’s side headed to the Brighton’s Amex Stadium, it was Hojbjerg who stood up and scored the winner in a nervy 1-0 win.

Having dealt with the pressure of captaining a team battling against relegation, the Danish international claims leading by example is something he has to do in his role.

Aged just 24, Hojbjerg shows a level of maturity way beyond his years.

One of the reasons for this could be down to leaving his family and joining European giants Bayern Munich at a young age.

And after growing, naturally, into Saints’ leader both on and off the pitch, Hojbjerg explains his development isn’t anywhere near finished yet.

He added: “I think, for me, it’s very important to be consistent and to lead by example.

“I’m very hungry to continue my journey and development. That is the key thing.

“It’s important to always be hungry. I know people say I’m still young, but I feel that I am maturing and that I am getting more and more closer to where I want to be.”

Part of his role as captain is to pick his team up when the chips are down and that’s something he had to do following the dismal opening day defeat to Burnley.

It saw an inspired performance against the Champions League winners, which could have ended in a draw if Danny Ings converted from close range with minutes to go.

When questioned about getting a response from the team, he added: “The most important thing is to show what we are about because then I am very sure that we will get the points.

“We have to take it one game at a time, one day at a time and on Saturday, we really want to have the positive story.

“We don’t like it (losing). The fans don’t like it, and I don’t want to sit here and talk around it.

“Zero points is not what we want, but every single week we go out there and give everything we have to try and get the three points.

“That’s what we can ask of ourselves and that’s what we have to give to the fans and to the club.”

As well as netting the winner at the Amex, the midfielder scored a spectacular goal from 35 yards under the St Mary’s lights against the Seagulls last August.

But with the introduction of VAR into the Premier League this year, there has been plenty of debate surrounding whether the raw emotion of scoring has been taken out of the game.

Although, Saints' captain disagrees with this notion.

“There are many questions about VAR, but I think the most important thing is to, first of all, give it a go and give it a chance,” continued Hojbjerg.

“Secondly of all, I think VAR is here to give fairness and not cause confusion.  So far, from what I have seen, VAR is being fair.

“I know people will say that you won’t get the full celebration, but you will. You saw it with City: they were all celebrating in full and then stopped afterwards.

“We will celebrate. I will celebrate if I score, don’t worry about that.”