They remain bottom of the Championship after Hume rounded Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis but missed an open goal with five minutes left.

The home side had dominated the game but were unable to find a way past visiting goalkeeper Heinz Muller.

"Iain is very disappointed as it was a great chance and I would have backed him ahead of anyone to score but he didn't," said Davey, who remains under pressure with his side showing little evidence of being able to escape a relegation scrap this season.

He added: "I think that every manager is under pressure and if you don't get results then people are going to vent their frustrations.

"But it is up to me to change things around as I am the manager and we have to keep working hard. There were a lot of positives to come out of the game, a draw and a clean sheet, but there are also a lot of things we need to work on."

Both sides look set for a season of struggle with neither team showing any cutting edge.

Southampton had more opportunities but Jan Poortvliet's young side lacked composure. However, it was one of their more experienced performers who missed an early chance as Bradley Wright-Phillips was denied by Muller's save after 10 minutes.

The home side continued to dominate possession for the rest of the half without really troubling the German goalkeeper whereas Barnsley resorted to pumping long balls towards Kayode Odejayi.

The second period provided slightly more entertainment as Andrew Surman burst clear on 70 minutes only to be denied by Rob Kozluk's challenge.

Hume raised Barnsley's hopes of snatching victory but fired into the side-netting and Muller made a smart double save from Stern John and Tomas Pekhart for some late drama.

Southampton: Davis, Cork, Wotton, Perry, Mills (John 85), Wright-Phillips (Thomson 61), Gillett, Surman, Lallana, McGoldrick, Pekhart. Unused substitutes: Bialkowski, Dyer, Davies.

Barnsley: Muller, Foster, Moore, Guedes, Kozluk, Campbell-Ryce (Devaney 71), Colace, De Silva (Hassell 76), Howard, Hume, Odejayi (Macken 76). Unused substitutes: Steele, Leon.

Referee: A D'Urso (Essex).

Man of the match: Heinz Muller.