Joe Aribo has every right to be embarrassed by Southampton, teammates must listen | OneFootball

Joe Aribo recently admitted to being embarrassed by Southampton's situation. Now, his teammates must listen to his cry for help.

Southampton are woeful right now. I don't feel like I'm sticking my neck out by saying this, it is unanimously agreed upon that Southampton are the worst team in the Premier League since Derby County. Between now and the end of the season, the objective is to avoid actually becoming the worst team - I know, that's pretty bleak, right?

Anyway, this is the situation that the Saints find themselves in. Relegation isn't a mathematical dead cert yet, but we won't shake that positivity tree. It would take a miracle to overrule destiny, unfortunately. The least we could do now is bow out with heads held high - The fans are owed this, at least.

Joe Aribo has every right to be embarrassed by Southampton

One player who risked becoming a villain with his recent comments is Joe Aribo. The Nigeria international said that he was personally embarrassed by the current Southampton situation. He also admitted that being compared to Derby County, the record holders of the worst Premier League season ever is something that he cannot stop thinking about.

In his own words, Aribo said: "I'm going to speak for myself personally, of course, it's embarrassing. We play football to win. I'm a winner and it's just a difficult time in my career for me, obviously, with what's going on with results. I think the boys have to stick together."

Then, Aribo added: "Of course, you're going to be thinking about that (matching Derby's record). Like I said, for me, embarrassment creeps in and then the boys have to stand up, we have to be accounted for. We have to just work together and let that pride kick in for us and have some pride and dignity."

Look, Aribo has every right to feel personally embarrassed. He is the joint top goal scorer for Southampton, matched by Paul Onuachu with three goals apiece. So, this is a scary thought, but Southampton would be in a worse position without Joe Aribo. I know, I can't imagine it either.

Joe Aribo has been one of the best Saints this season. He's one of those rare players who has at least tried in every game so far. Sure, three goals isn't overly impressive, but considering he's played in defence and the chances have been lacking going forward, this statistic shouldn't be overlooked either.

So, fair play to Aribo. The only thing that fans ask for is honesty and to show that supporters aren't the only ones suffering during this period.

Now, it is a case of Southampton having a strong(ish) end to the season. We're not going to expect the Premier League next season but we can at least head into the Championship knowing we still have some form of integrity.