Southampton's Tadic keen to improve on injury-hit debut season

Tadic, who went under the knife during the close season, joined the club last summer from FC Twente and got off to a flying start, scoring four goals and nine assists in 25 Premier League starts.

(Reuters)

But a groin problem worsened which lead to a premature end to his season.

"It was successful, but also frustrating. I think nobody expected how I started and how we started as a team, which was really nice," the 26-year-old said of his first year with the Saints.

"But I know that, if I stayed fit, then the season would have been complete because I believe that the rest of it would have been like the first part -- for me and for the team."

Tadic said he was eager to stay fit throughout the season.

"In football, it's not possible for things to always go how you think and that's why I say that it's most important that you try to always be fit and then everything comes into place," Tadic was quoted as saying on the club's website.

"I learned a lot from my first year. Most important for me now is to stay fit, then to try to make a season like the last one and to play good football."

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto ganguly)