Manager Ronald Koeman has said despite a lack of historical rivalry, he wants to build Bournemouth into a proper derby for Southampton.
Audio – Koeman On Bournemouth Derby
Speaking to saintsfc in his pre game press conference ahead of Sunday’s match, Koeman said he was fully embracing the derby nature of the tie despite it only being the 22nd time we will have faced off against them – and our last competitive match being back in League One during the 2010-11 season.
‘In my opinion it’s a derby – but maybe not the biggest one, because there’s not a lot of history between both clubs. I hope that they will stay in the Premier League so that we will get a few years in a row to play against each other. Normally, it makes it a little bit easier for the manager because they (players) have that feeling of it being a derby. Everybody will have more attention to the game, and that makes it a little bit more special. You need that to be successful.’
He was also full of praise for opposite number Eddie Howe and the way that Bournemouth play on the pitch, adding.
‘They are doing well. They were by far the best team last season in the Championship. Of course, they’ve had some difficulties but what I like about the club and the manager is that they have their own philosophy in how they like to play football. That’s good to see, because I think that’s important to win finally and to get the results that you like. Maybe the last two results against City and Tottenham, where they received five goals in both games weren’t good, but you have to analyse the team and to see how they conceded those goals. There were some mistakes of the goalkeepers in both games, and that makes it more difficult, but they were fighting for a good result. I think they did a great job last Wednesday in the Capital One Cup against Liverpool – it was close and they had some good chances. We have to be on our level to win the game.’
Finally in terms of a team selection and team news, he went on to explain.
With a number of changes made for the Capital One Cup tie in midweek, Cedric and Ryan Bertrand return to contention having been rested and Sadio Mane returns following his suspension.
‘What we saw (Wednesday) was that we have a lot of competition in our squad, which you like to have as a manager. The best XI will start on Sunday. Tomorrow we have our last training session and then you make the final decision for Sunday.’
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