Sunday 28 September 2014 11:31, UK
Graziano Pelle says Southampton will keep striving for perfection after his winning goal sunk QPR 2-1 at St Mary's.
The £8million summer signing from Feyenoord struck his fifth goal in six games in all competitions on Saturday, an acrobatic overhead effort from Dusan Tadic's header down in the 68th minute against Rangers.
It gave Saints another three points to keep them in second spot in the table, and they have now chalked up an impressive six wins in a row, including a Capital One Cup success at Arsenal on Tuesday.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Pelle was asked about the significance of his latest strike.
The Italian striker said: "That's why we work so hard every week to win games. We are enjoying a special beginning to the season but today, we showed again that even if we play a hard game in midweek - we were a bit tired - but again we got the three points."
Pelle believes he is adapting well to life in the Premier League after quickly realising it is more demanding than the Eredivisie.
"It's an amazing competition," he added. "After the first two games, I realised I had to do more. Usually in Holland, I was winning by giving 80% but here you have to give 110%. Every time you have a good opponent - it doesn't matter which team you come up against.
"I believe in myself and I know the trainer believes in me. Again I thank my team-mates and the supporters. We're playing amazing football and enjoying it. But we have to keep going - the season is long."
When asked how long Saints can keep their run going, Pelle responded: "Before the game, we always say the 95 minutes is the most important thing.
"We work hard during the week to be ready to win every game. We try to combine all together to create the perfect machine! Nothing's perfect, but we're trying."
Ryan Bertrand scored his first professional goal for over two years to put Saints ahead.
"The team's very happy to win," said the on-loan Chelsea left-back. "It's the first tough week where we've had three games in a week, so there was pressure on us mentally to pick it up again and get another win.
"We were just reiterating in the changing room. We had to keep patient, raise it by like 10% in terms of quality and tempo, but we were confident the goal would come.
2It's good to be playing games now and I can finally establish myself as a player and everyone can finally put a type of player to me. I like to get forward, I like to assist goals and if I score that's a bonus. But the most important thing is that the team won."
