A gap in physicality between the Premier League and the second-tier Championship played a big role in newly promoted clubs struggling in England's top tier, Southampton manager Ivan Juric said after his team suffered the earliest relegation in the league's history.
Bottom side Southampton lost 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, confirming their relegation with a record seven matches to spare.
Ipswich Town and Leicester City, the other two teams promoted from the Championship, are also on the verge of relegation with 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers being 12 points above the drop zone.
"What I notice the most in these three or four months I am here is a completely different physicality between us and the other teams in the Premier League," said Juric, who joined Southampton in December after the club's poor start in the campaign.
"I think the same thing happened to Leicester and Ipswich Town. The difference between physicality of Championship and Premier League.
"Physically when it's a moment of transition, when it's a moment like a basketball game, you cannot do it because they are physically stronger, faster and this is the huge difference."
Juric, whose contract with Southampton runs till the end of the 2025-26 season, said he was ready to help the club find their way back to the top flight if possible.
"It is really good to be a coach in the Premier League and if I took the long way to come back here, I am ready," the former Genoa, Torino and AS Roma coach said.
"Then I have to see with the club, with the ideas, with everything and what they think, what I think and whether we can do it or not."