Hughes hopes Puel’s over it

MARK HUGHES hopes Claude Puel has already exorcised his demons and will give his Southampton team the chance for a league lifeline tonight.

Puel pointedly refused to talk about his time at Southampton yesterday as he talked of building Leicester, but the bitterness felt by the former Saints boss has been clear in the past.

He gained some measure of revenge by returning to St Mary’s with his new charges in December and winning 4-1.

Hughes, who replaced Puel’s successor Mauricio Pellegrino last month, is hoping that has got some of the poison out of the Frenchman’s system.

“I wasn’t really paying close attention to what was going on here last season,” said Hughes.

“My focus then was at my previous club but Puel finished the season in a high position.

“I think that was why I suggested I thought his leaving was a bit of a surprise, but I wasn’t privy to why the decision was made and I haven’t asked the question since I’ve been here.

“He went to Leicester, had an immediate impact and has done very well so clearly he’s a talented manager. Perhaps he’s already got his revenge because he’s come here and won on his first time back, so maybe he’s got it out of his system and moved on, I would hope.”

Saints are five points adrift of safety with five games to play and Hughes said: “We have to focus on what we need to do.

“If we do that irrespective of what’s gone on before or what results have been in the past against similar opposition, we can’t dwell on that. Clearly we’re at the stage where we need to put results on the board.”