Ralph Hasenhuttl accepted the importance of Wednesday’s clash with Cherries but insisted he retains “all the belief” in what Saints are doing. Saints, who are in the bottom three with eight points, must start picking up victories and crucially against teams they are likely to be competing with come the end of the season.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “For us, it’s a Premier League game and an important one. We go there and I think we know that they are in good shape at the moment, but we go there like we have always gone into in the past with all the belief in what we are doing to make it a good evening for us.”
The meeting comes off the back of a 1-1 draw with West Ham United, at St Mary’s, that ended a run of four straight defeats in the Premier League for Hasenhuttl and Saints. It could have been a first win since the August victory over Chelsea, after Romain Perraud put Saints ahead and Che Adams squandered two big chances.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “For everybody it is very frustrating because these are the moments where you can make a big step forward. But it would still be a long way to go. There’s no guarantee that you win games but it makes it a little bit easier. And then you can definitely play a little bit calmer but we are never in the situation. Let’s say every point we get is a point gained and we know that we need every point. We are now going to Bournemouth and then against Arsenal so another two games this week. We have to be ready for the Wednesday game, immediately focus is on the game and hopefully we can get a win there.”
