INTERIM boss Gary O’Neil said it would be “unfair” to ask Jack Stephens to provide a scouting report on parent club Saints and insisted: “I’ll do my own research.” Stephens joined Cherries on loan from St Mary’s on transfer deadline day, sealing a season-long switch to Vitality Stadium. The Torpoint-born centre-back made two top-flight appearances for Saints this campaign before arriving at Cherries – where he has made one first-team substitute display thus far. He has been at Saints for more than a decade, having signed from Plymouth in April 2011 for a reported £150,000. Quizzed on whether he would be asking the 28-year-old for a scouting report on Saints,
Gary O’Neil said: “No, that would be unfair on him. I’ll do my own research on Southampton, so I wouldn’t put Jack in that situation.”
Stephens is ineligible to feature when Cherries host Saints at Vitality Stadium tomorrow (7.30pm). The centre-back has made 90 appearances under Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, who has seen his side struggle in recent weeks with just one point coming from five games.
Gary O’Neil added: “I think he has a quite defined style as a coach, and they’re generally very front foot and aggressive. That’s sort of always how I’ve seen these teams. They look to press, they look to put good pressure on you. When you change a lot of players in the summer, and especially when you sign some young ones, sometimes you need a little while for things to come into place. And I’m sure that Ralph will turn it around. He’s had a really good track record. So, yeah, it’ll be a very, very tough game for us.”
