#PLStories- Nathan Redmond beleives Christmas period will be crucial for Saints #SAINTSFC

LONG-SERVING winger Nathan Redmond believes Saints' "big squad" could play a key role ahead of a "crucial" Christmas period of fixtures for the club. Redmond is currently in his sixth season at the club, with his appearance against Leicester City on Wednesday evening his 210th for the Hampshire outfit. Following the departure of experienced trio Ryan Bertrand, Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard over the summer, Redmond was quickly elevated to the position of one of the most experienced members of the squad. INTERVIEW: Redmond on 'whirlwind' few weeks after contracting COVID and becoming a father Of the regular first-teamers at Saints, only Alex McCarthy, Stuart Armstrong, Theo Walcott, Jack Stephens and Oriol Romeu are older than Redmond. Comparing the young squad he is a part of this season to those of previous years, Redmond told the Daily Echo: "I’ve been the younger player in teams at this club and I’m slowly turning into one of the older players, one of the more senior ones. "But I think the squad in depth as a whole is more of a luxury for us this year. "I think we’ve gone into some seasons with a small squad and coming into Christmas schedules it’s not really been the greatest of times for us. "We’ve got a big squad this year which allows us to rotate and everybody understands their roles and responsibilities." Saints currently sit 15th in the Premier League table, following their 2-2 draw with the Foxes. While recent campaigns have seen Ralph Hasenhuttl's men struggle at times at home, their form at St Mary's this season has been good, losing just once – a 1-0 defeat to Wolves. Discussing the improved home form so far this campaign, Redmond said: "In recent years it seemed like we couldn’t buy a win at home! "But we’re doing very, very well at home. "We’re not going into games as naïve anymore and losing that impetus to really go and put that stamp or our authority on at home. "At the end of the day, our fans have missed a lot of high energy and attacking football. I think we’re working slowly on that to give them that every single week." Looking ahead to Saturday's home fixture with Brighton, who are winless in 10, Redmond added: "We’ve always been looking at the games we need to win that are around us. That’s in the forefront of our mind. "They’ve had good runs at the start of the season, but from what I’ve seen they’ve not necessarily had one of the best runs at the moment in recent weeks. "This sort of time in the season is very, very crucial. "I’ve been at this point in the season flying with Southampton and also doing not so well, so at the end of the day, this sort of period in time is crucial."