Southampton boss Ronald Koeman said Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park had ended their outside chance of Champions League football.
The Dutchman instead urged his players to focus on a place in the Europa League after a Phil Jagielka goal proved enough to beat them.
The Saints struggled to create clear chances despite forcing Tim Howard into two good saves and Koeman said: "It is not realistic at this moment to think of the first four positions in the table.
"It is more realistic to think about the Europa League, but the Europa League for us is like the Champions League for Arsenal and Manchester United.
"We are very disappointed about the result today. It was a little bit more difficult for us to create chances.
"It is more difficult because of how opponents are defending and playing against Southampton.
"Everton played at home and defended the result, and that is out of respect."