STUNNED boss Ralph Hasenhuttl admits he will consider making changes to his Saints side for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final after their 3-0 thrashing against West Brom. Saints head to Wembley this weekend to take on Leicester City, looking to book their spot in the FA Cup final for the first time since 2003. Asked if that display could see some players dropped from the team to step out at Wembley this weekend,
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “I must have a look what alternatives we have in this week and I think we have shown that we can do it much better (than at West Brom). But the problem is when you start like this in a game then it is tough against a team that is fighting for everything. When you think you are safe now with 36 points and concentrating on the cup semi-final, then it is not what you want to do. The best test for the weekend is to get a strong game here (at The Hawthorns) to get some self-confidence. This was the chance to do it and we didn’t take it. So we have to be very critical with this game because it was far away from what we can normally offer.”
Pushed further on if he feels his players did drop their levels against West Brom ahead of Sunday’s cup contest,
Ralph Hasenhuttl added: “I don’t know. I cannot look in them. But I didn’t have the feeling in the beginning when we went out. But with the first duels lost, you could feel that we haven’t been that sharp to compete with a team that was fighting with it.”
Hasenhuttl has a little bit of time to regather his troops before heading to Wembley, knowing Saints have saved most of their best performances this season for the FA Cup. Discussing how much better his team will need to perform against Leicester to progress into the final compared to their showing against West Brom,
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “I think this is not really a serious question. We know that if we play like this (again on Sunday) then we have no chance, this is for sure. The message is clear – when you want to be successful then you have to show definitely a different face. This is what we have to work on during the week and look and hopefully find the players that show this face.”
