Southampton need pressure in order to deliver, says Tadic

Britain Soccer Football - Arsenal v Southampton - Premier League - Emirates Stadium - 10/9/16 Southampton's Dusan Tadic celebrates their first goal, an own goal scored by Arsenal's Petr Cech Action Images via Reuters / John Sibley Livepic

(Reuters) - Southampton must turn up the heat on themselves in order to pick up good results, midfielder Dusan Tadic said ahead of Thursday's Europa League encounter with Sparta Prague.

The club finished sixth last season to secure a place in the Europa League but have started this Premier League campaign with two draws and two defeats under new manager Claude Puel.

"We need to beat them, it's simple," Tadic told reporters in reference to Sparta.

"We need to put that kind of pressure on ourselves because sometimes I like to feel the pressure that we need to beat our opponents."

Serb Tadic said Southampton must put the agony of losing last year to unfancied Midtjylland in the Europa League qualifiers behind them.

"It was really disappointing because Southampton have never played in the Europa League group stages," he added.

"I know them (Sparta) because I was watching the Europa League last year and saw some of their games. They are a strong team."

Tadic said a win on Thursday would give Southampton "more confidence to beat Swansea City" in the Premier League on Sunday.

(Reporting by Ian Rodricks in Bengaluru; Editing by Tony Jimenez)