Southampton were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night after drawing 1-1 at home to Israeli champions Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

The Saints only needed a scoreless draw or a victory to advance to the knock-out stages, but conceded to Maor Bazaglo with just 12 minutes to go and, although Virgil van Dijk netted an equaliser, they didn’t have enough time to overturn the deficit.

Nonetheless, they return to Premier League matters this weekend when they host Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough on Sunday.

Boro are just a place and two points behind their opponents following a 1-0 win over Hull on Monday, which was their third league victory of the campaign.

Claude Puel’s Saints though lost 3-0 to Crystal Palace last time out, their third defeat in five league games, but they did win their last home game against Everton a fortnight ago.

Nonetheless, Southampton have hit a bit of sticky patch in recent weeks, and some players need to up their game ahead of the busy Christmas period.

Thus, here are TWO players that need to improve over the coming weeks…

Sofiane Boufal

With Charlie Austin looking likely to be out for a while, the other Southampton attackers are going to have to chip in with goals.

Austin has netted six of their 12 league goals so far and, although Sofiane Boufal has only played 215 minutes of league football, he has yet to register a goal or an assist.

The Moroccan was the Saints’ record signing in the summer, costing them £16 million, and we’ve seen glimpses of what he can do, most notably in the League Cup, where he scored a great goal against Sunderland and provided an assist for Ryan Bertrand’s strike against Arsenal.

However, more is now expected from the 23-year-old after some fine displays and, with Austin out injured, he’s likely to get more of a chance in the first team.

He has created the same amount of chances as Austin this season with eight – it’s just a case of adding a greater end product to help Southampton get the victories they need.

Shane Long

Austin’s absence is likely to mean that Shane Long will lead the line for the Saints over the coming weeks.

The Republic of Ireland international started the season ahead of the former Burnley and QPR forward in the pecking order, but didn’t do enough to justify staying ahead of Austin, who then went on to nail down the starting role.

However, Puel will now be looking towards Long to lead from the front, although he hasn’t netted in the Premier League this season in 10 appearances for the Saints, three of which have been starts.

Nevertheless, the 29-year-old has had 13 shots on goal this season, so he’s getting himself into the positions, but hasn’t created a chance for his teammates since the end of September.

It’s difficult to judge Long’s season due to the number of substitute appearances, but the Irish striker struggled in the early parts of the season, and will need to improve upon those efforts in the coming weeks.