Koeman pleased with Sadio Mane's effort for Southampton on Saturday

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman thinks forward Sadio Mane almost tried too hard during the 2-1 FA Cup third round loss at home to Crystal Palace.

The forward was criticised by Koeman last weekend, after he was dropped to the bench ahead of the defeat at Norwich because he arrived late to a pre-match meeting.

Subsequent reports linked Mane with a move away from the Saints but Koeman was pleased with his player's commitment to the cause on Saturday.

"He was active, he was dangerous," said the Saints boss.

"Maybe in three or four situations, if he'd passed the ball maybe it would have been a chance, but he's a good player and that's not a problem.

"Maybe, with what happened last week, he was too focused to show his qualities, or to be important, but he played at a good level. He was dangerous, he had good movement.

"And it's difficult, because the organisation of Crystal Palace was good, and puts a lot of people behind, and it's not easy to score against them."

A more pressing concern for Koeman is that his side have now lost eight of their last 10 games following the Palace defeat, and the manager admitted that confidence is low.

"We started the game well," he said. "Oriol (Romeu) had two mistakes in possession and you see doubts in your team and that's difficult to explain.

"Mistakes are a part of football and you have to keep going. You have to keep believing in yourself and your team-mates.

"That's difficult at the moment because the best feeling is winning games. Winning makes players full of belief and full of confidence.

"That's a mental question of the players. In a difficult time, they're maybe a little bit more afraid than they need to be as football players."