DUSAN Tadic wants Saints to replicate the performance they produced in the first half against Vitesse – and not the one from the second – when they travel to Arnhem next week.

Ronald Koeman’s side take a commanding lead to the Netherlands after beating their opponents 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie.

Tadic was one of the scorers, netting from the penalty spot moments before the break, as Saints recorded their first European win in 34 years.

His goal, after Sadio Mane was tripped in the area, put the hosts 2-0 up, with Graziano Pelle having slammed home the opener shortly beforehand.

It capped a strong first-half performance from Saints, but they were less effective after the interval, with Milot Rashica missing two excellent opportunities for Vitesse that could have changed the complexion of the tie, before Shane Long nabbed a third late on.

Tadic said the team were frustrated with how they performed in the second half, and insisted they want to make sure they produce the sort of display they showed in the opening 45 minutes when they head to Vitesse next Thursday.

“Yes, it was a good result,” he said. “Three-zero is a good result.

“First half I think we played good, we pressed them well and we didn’t give them so much space, but I think second half was not so good and we can improve much more second half.”

Regardless, with such a healthy advantage, Saints should now have little difficulty progressing to the play-off round, which is the final hurdle before the group stages.

But Tadic has warned that Vitesse remain dangerous opponents and ones that cannot be taken lightly, especially as they will have home advantage in the second leg.

“Yes, it’s good, but what I say, still I think we can clear some mistakes from second half,” said the midfielder.

“I think we gave them a lot of space and then you see that they can be really dangerous, and if you don’t give them space and if you press them well they have problems, and, yes, I think we need to play like first half.”