Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl continues his preparations for this weekend’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur and former manager Mauricio Pochettino as we welcome them to St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday.
After that game, Southampton have a massive break in the fixture list as the FA Cup quarter-finals take precedence, and then, of course, we go into a pointless international break once again.
Following Spurs, we aren’t back in action until March 30 when we face Brighton and Hove Albion and as we look for some momentum in the Premier League, it’s far from ideal given our battle against relegation.
Hasenhuttl acknowledges that and he told Sky Sports in his pre-game press conference.
“This is a new situation for me, missing a game for the cup. To have such a long break during the season is unnatural. We will have everyone here for the first week and then not for the second because some will leave for their national teams. In that first week, we will take a few early steps towards the Brighton match but when they go to their national teams, maybe they will forget what we worked on. We will try to find some rhythm but it is not easy.”
Hasenhuttl knows himself it’s pointless moaning about how the fixture list has left us hanging, we simply have to make the most of it and take whatever positives we can so when the games return, we are ready to kick on and get the points we need.
It certainly can’t be used as an excuse.
