RALPH Hasenhuttl revealed he has demanded “a very passionate performance for the supporters going with us” as his Saints side finish their season on the road. The St Mary’s outfit visit Leicester City’s King Power Stadium on Sunday, May 22 (4PM), knowing they need to produce something to inspire frustrated fans. Asked what he expects of his players on Sunday,
Ralph Hasenhuttl responded: “A very passionate performance for the supporters that are going with us. That you know what you have to deliver on the pitch. We have had some real tough games so we want to go there and show our best.”
But the boss insists wherever they finish in the table will have been their own making,
Ralph Hasenhuttl added: “It’s what you deserve to get when you have a season with a long run of good form but in the end lose games you don’t have to lose. The mid-table is very tight, you can see when we played all of the teams around us, and it often breaks down to those decisive games, to the six-point games. This season again we failed in that moment and this is very disappointing, the minimum target we have reached very early but also the next step we cannot manage so far – this is not what we wanted.”
With just one win in the last 11 Premier League matches, Hasenhuttl lamented another poor run-in – a second in succession for Saints, after finishing 15th last campaign.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “The final part of the season we could definitely do better. I think when you look at our results we had a time where we had three losses in two months and then several losses in one month, so it is a bit up and down. I must say we are not the only team like this in the Premier League. It’s a little bit strange that it is always coming at the end of the season, we had one year where we didn’t do it when we had the COVID break in March. We ended up really strong there after resetting and refreshing up. It’s exhausting for us, a long season, it costs the guys a lot of energy, us also. It seems we cannot hold this level high up into the end of the season, this is the goal for the future.”
