Much has been made of Albion’s poor away record but imagine if they had won only four of their last 20 Premier League games at the Amex.

That is the barrier Mark Hughes is trying to overcome with Southampton at St Mary’s.

There has not been much for the majority of Saints supporters to cheer by way of results.

Hughes believes there are signs of his players removing the mental block ahead of Albion’s visit on Monday night (8pm).

The former Stoke boss said: “I think it has been but I sense there is a bit more freedom about our play at home.

“There is a good energy in the stadium now in terms of fans seeing a real difference in our play in terms of our attitude to the game and what we’re trying to do.

“That filters back to the players and they’re encouraged.

“Certainly it seemed when I first came into the building that there was a bit of a straitjacket in terms of apprehension before home games. I think that’s gone.

“Performances - not necessarily the results we would have wanted - have been decent when the crowd was actually with us and could see what we were trying to do, when we were trying to be more positive.

“That will continue because that’s the way I want us to play.

“Long-term that will bring us the results at home that you need to sustain a good Premier League season.

“Our home form needs to be addressed and that’s what we’ve been talking about.

“It’s about starting games well. Against Burnley (0-0) we had a slow start and we needed to change that.

“I think we’ve done that in recent games, certainly against Leicester (1-2) where I thought we were excellent in the first half.

“Certainly, the game at Palace (won 2-0).

“We now know the level we have to hit to reach a certain performance.

“You can’t start slow and with a lack of energy in the opening period.

“We’re trying to start quick, start with intensity that we want to sustain for the whole 90 minutes. It’s a simple equation.”

Southampton have not won consecutive league games since April 2017, a chance which now presents itself against the Seagulls following their victory at Selhurst Park.

Hughes said: “These are the opportunities you have to take.

“When you have won an away game and have a home fixture which you expect to win, with no disrespect to Brighton who are a good team, you go into with intentions of winning.

“We can’t let these opportunities pass us by.

“It’s a good moment for us, we’re playing okay.”