Southampton are currently bottom of the Premier League, but the Saints are by no means down and out; with just under half the season to go, there are only three points separating them from Leicester City in 14th.

Jacob Tanswell, Southampton reporter for The Athletic, provides the expert view ahead of Saturday’s game at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Southampton are bottom of the Premier League at the time of speaking, two points from safety with 20 games played. What have you made of their season to date?

It has not been great and is probably a continuation from last season, when they had a real poor end under Ralph Hasenhuttl and won once in 14 games.

They have tried to overhaul the squad; there are a lot of young players and they brought in 10 players in the summer.

As well as those players have done, they are very young and being young means there has been a lot of inconsistency in the team.

When you have a young, inexperienced team and you are also fighting relegation, it is always going to be difficult.

Southampton have struggled in both boxes and conceded a lot of goals, but they have also missed having a clinical striker.

Nathan Jones didn't get a great reception when he arrived from Luton Town in November, but despite their league woes, Southampton have beaten Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and Crystal Palace in the FA Cup. Do you think these results show that it will take time for his methods to properly bed in, even though time is at a premium?

Exactly that. Southampton have shown signs, even in the recent losses, that they are staying in games longer, competing a lot better and being defensively more solid, but it's just a case of whether that progress comes quickly enough to keep them in the league.

They have worked hard and become a little more pragmatic, but the progress is a bit slow going at the moment and the same issues, in terms of conceding from set-pieces and not scoring enough goals, are just leaving them hamstrung.

I think the supporters realise they have to back the team now because they are coming to a crucial part of the season.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on?

The boring answer is James Ward-Prowse. He's two goals away from David Beckham's record of the most free-kick goals scored in the Premier League (18) and is the only reliable goalscorer in the Southampton team at the moment.

But Samuel Edozie has come on leaps and bounds under Jones - he has been given a lot more playing time. Edozie is very raw, very quick and can cause issues down either flank.

How is Jones likely to set up at the Gtech Community Stadium?

He wants height in his team, so will probably play with three centre-backs. He sometimes uses one of them at right-back.

In and out of possession, his team changes from a back three to a back four, so that is probably something to keep an eye on.

They try to play forward quickly into the hold-up play of Che Adams with runners off him.

There were eight goals and a win each in the two games last season. What's your score prediction for this one?

I always go for a Southampton win in any game, so I think I'll go for a 2-1 win to Saints.