With Southampton falling to a second straight defeat in the Premier League in last weekend’s clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, the midweek encounter against fellow relegation battlers Fulham now becomes a ‘must win’ clash for manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.
After slipped up against Cardiff City previously and dropped points with late goals being conceded, Arsenal was always going to be a tough ask when it came to points – even despite our St Mary’s Stadium victory over them a couple of months back.
Sitting in 18th place in the top flight table only a point shy of Neil Warnock’s side, we do have a seven point cushion to Claudio Ranieri’s boys who sit in 19th place, but the importance of taking all three points from this one should be obvious to all.
Speaking to saintsfc as our attentions turn quickly from the last defeat and towards Wednesday’s action, midfielder Oriol Romeu explained that everyone in the camp was keenly aware of how important this tie was.
“It’s crucial. It’s one of those that can help us recover from the situation we’re in right now. Alongside our fans, I think we can create something nice. We want to make sure Fulham are going to take nothing from us. There have been some tough results, especially in the last few minutes, but that’s something that can happen in football. This team has picked up from hard situations before, and I’m sure it will do it again. I’m pretty positive that, with the lads and the way we’re working, it’s the right way. Sooner or later we’re going to get our rewards. It’s a matter of keep working hard, keep doing the right things in training and the results and the points we need will have to come. There are not many points, so we can’t throw many more away.”
Let’s hope the performance matches the pre-game words this time.
