How is Southampton's defence so good?

No surprise Ronald Koeman is smiling looking at his defence

Southampton continue to defy the odds for Ronald Koeman in his first season in English football.

They climbed above Manchester United into third spot once more courtesy of their weekend win over QPR at Loftus Road.

Saints attracted some excellent attacking talent to St Mary's last summer but it is their outstanding defensive record that is helping them prosper.

They currently have the best defensive record of all 92 league clubs in English football, but what is the secret to their success?

The longer the season wears on, the more likely it seems that Southampton could pull off what once looked impossible and qualify for the Champions League.

Results since the turn of the year certainly appear to indicate they have little to fear from the teams that will challenge them.

They have kept clean sheets in three of their last five Premier League games whilst defeating Arsenal and Manchester United - two direct rivals for places in the top four this season.

Southampton have now kept 11 clean sheets this season in 24 league games - two more than Swansea and Liverpool who are next best.

The 17 goals conceded also puts them in the clear as the meanest defence in the top flight, league leaders Chelsea are closest to Southampton having been breached on 21 occasions.

These figures are all the more impressive considering that Koeman inherited a squad that lost Luke Shaw to Manchester United and Dejen Lovren to Liverpool last summer.

The new manager didn't splash the cash to shore things up.

The sale of Shaw and Lovren brought in 47m to the St Mary's coffers with defensive cover arriving in the form of Fraser Forster (10m) and Florin Gardos (4m) while Toby Alderweireld and Ryan Bertrand now look like two incredibly shrewd loan signings from Atletico Madrid and Chelsea respectively, with the latter making his move permanent on deadline day.

Former Celtic stopper Forster has won the plaudits as the man racking up the clean sheets but the England international has not been slow to credit those in front of him.

A closer look at the recent stats shows it is little wonder Forster is enjoying playing in this defensive unit.

The 1-0 victory at Old Trafford in January was heralded at the time as the perfect away performance. Southampton had a single shot on goal, from which Dusan Tadic scored the winner.

At the other end they were composed, hard-working and unbelievably stubborn in coughing up chances to their hosts.

So much so that Forster didn't have a save to make. United were restricted to ten shots at goal, eight of which went off target - thanks in part to the Saints hassling and harrying their opponents. The remaining two shots were blocked before Forster was forced to intervene.

It was a similar tale at Newcastle the following week where the home side were allowed only three shots on target in their 2-1 defeat.

Not only are they conceding very few goals, Southampton are refusing to even allow chances against their goalkeeper.

Alderweireld has formed an exceptional partnership alongside Jose Fonte in the centre of defence - the latter missing just 90 minutes all season.

At full-back Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne have been receiving praise for their willingness to get forward and help out in the final third but both have managed to maintain their defensive duties at the same time.

While Forster may not have been forced to work as hard he would have anticipated behind the best defence in England up until now, there is little doubt he will oblige if called upon.

During his time at Celtic, the 26-year-old earned a reputation for heroic performances in the white heat of the Champions League as the Scottish side often outran their odds.

If Southampton can continue to defend as efficiently over the final 14 games as they have done in the opening 24, then Forster mind find himself with another crack at Champions League football next season.