Saturday 22 August 2015 16:01, UK
Ronald Koeman insists European competition will not be a distraction for Southampton, despite the club's underwhelming start to the domestic season.
Southampton suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Everton last Saturday and have taken just one point from their opening two league games.
Koeman's side also had to come from behind at home to rescue a 1-1 draw in Thursday's Europa League qualifying play-off first leg against Danish club Midtjylland.
However the Dutchman, who won the European Cup twice during his playing career, says his squad is well equipped to cope with the demands of midweek European football.
"I hope it will be a problem later on in the season but there's no tiredness at the moment, because we're starting the season," he said.
"We don't have long to prepare for the next game but at the start of the season that's not a problem. Maybe it's good to play so many games because we need to develop and improve and cut out mistakes. The second half [against Midtjylland)] was good but we are learning."
Southampton continue their Premier League campaign with a trip to newly-promoted Watford on Sunday. Quique Flores' side have made an unbeaten start to the season with draws against Everton and West Brom in their first two games.
Koeman says he's impressed with how quickly the Hornets have adapted to life back in the Premier League.
"It's always nice to play a promoted team and they have had two good results, the start of the season is very positive for them," he said.
"It takes time to integrate into the Premier League, that was the case for me last year, finding how difficult and tough it is, but the manager has always had good organisation in his teams so it will be a tough one."
