SAINTS have their very own monster! 

Yes, West Ham goal-hero Maya Yoshida has described goalkeeper Fraser Forster as a monster after he kept a fifth consecutive clean sheet in the 1-0 win over the Hammers on Saturday.

Ten-man Saints recorded four straight home Premier League wins after Yoshida, who made a rare start at centre-back, made the most of his opportunity by netting a ninth minute winner and helping to deny Slaven Bilic’s side an equaliser.

After Victor Wanyama was sent-off for a wild tackle on Dimitri Payet on 54 minutes, Ronald Koeman’s side demonstrated incredible resilience and defensive organisation under pressure to see-out the victory and haul themselves to within two points of the sixth-placed Boleyn Ground outfit.

Forster was once more in impressive form – pulling off a number of assured saves and marshalling his defenders very well indeed.

“He shouts a lot but not too aggressive,” said the Japanese defender, when describing the England stopper. “He looks like a monster - but he is kind!”

He added: “He can change a game, like he did against Arsenal. We would maybe have conceded two or three goals. He stopped every shot. It was amazing.”

This latest shutout means that Forster becomes the first Saints goalkeeper in 15 years to keep five uninterrupted clean sheets in a row.

It’s now 450 minutes without letting a goal in for the 27-year-old since his return from a ten month injury lay-off.

“He’s very comfortable with the ball at his feet as well. He never makes a miskick, he never makes a bad decision,” said Yoshida . “For 90 minutes he concentrates. His head always stays in the game. And when he has the chance to stop the ball, he stops it.”

Yoshida made his first league start for almost two months and was pleased to help Saints in their revitalised push for European places, capping off his performance with his third Premier League goal and his second against West Ham.

It was a goal he celebrated with a big grin and a knee slide. It was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders after a couple of error-prone performances earlier in the campaign.

“West Ham were just above us and now we are much closer to them,” he said. “I have been a long time on the bench so I need to get confidence a little bit more.

“The goal gave me a lot of confidence and my team-mates tried to do that as well.

He added: “Today, I think all the players played very well. After Victor was sent off, it was a really tough last 20 minutes. There was great team spirit. The ‘keeper can never play by himself but sometimes they can change the game immediately.”