Flirting with drop, we’re going to get burned

ORIOL ROMEU has been at Southampton long enough to call it home and be used to English sayings.

“We use a saying in Spain, I think you say it in England, that if you play with fire you might get burned,” he said. “This season, we are playing with fire, last season we were playing with fire, and hopefully we can get away with it again.

“But if we stay up, if we can get enough points to be safe, then next season we cannot play with fire again because, if you keep getting stuck down there, the odds will be higher on you going down.” Romeu, 27, has been with Saints for nearly four years and, after last season’s great escape, did not expect to be in another battle against relegation. The club renowned for producing young players, being progressive and making imaginative managerial appointments are hoping, if they can stay up, for a much brighter future under Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The manager has already made a big difference to Romeu. He is back in the team, playing well and enjoying life again, having lost his place under Mark Hughes.

He is a giant of a midfielder and a deep thinker, eloquent talker and, rather like his close friend and fellow Spaniard Juan Mata, wants to give something back. Most summers, he returns home to run a football school for kids from his local town.

This week represented a lifelong ambition fulfilled, having played for Catalunya during the international break, and yet the midfielder who grew up in Barcelona’s famed academy now has a new home.

“Me and my girlfriend were in Spain and were saying, ‘We’re looking forward to getting back to Winchester (where I live)’. It feels like home,” he said. “We’ve been here for so long, it’s one of the places where I’ve felt most comfortable playing football.” Today, Saints face Brighton. It is a big chance to put some daylight between them and the relegation zone. Last season’s winner-take-all match at Swansea – which Saints won and effectively saved themselves by sending the Welsh club down – is a warning they do not want to leave it so late this time. Romeu (with Mirror man, John Cross, left) added: “The last two seasons, I don’t think we’ve been good enough for the quality we have in the squad. “That’s not where we should be. But that’s just words because we are here now and deserve to be. We need to learn from it. We don’t want to have another experience like Swansea last season because that was tense. Everyone was a bit scared. “The game with Brighton will be crucial, the home game with Liverpool will be crucial, and we want to be safe without going through that Swansea game again. “The atmosphere is better but feelings are just hot air. Points are what gives us belief and convinces us we can do it. The manager has changed some of the basics, making sure we had a good bond between the players. “It has made a difference, because we know our roles and don’t change the way we play if we win or lose. We’ve struggled because we didn’t know what was happening, but now the ideas are more clear.”

Brighton (a) Liverpool (h) Wolves (h) Newcastle (a) Watford (a) Bournemouth (h) West Ham (a) Huddersfield (h) ■ Brighton have won just four of their last 30 matches against Southampton in all competitions (D12 L14).

■ Brighton have already lost once at home against Southampton this season, going down 1-0 in the EFL Cup.

■ Seagulls have won their last two Premier League games, more than in their previous 12 combined (W1 D3 L8).

■ Southampton have lost their last two Prem away games – they’re yet to lose three in a row on the road under Ralph Hasenhuttl.

■ Saints have scored a league-high ratio 32 per cent of their Premier League goals from outside the box so far this season (11/34).

■ Southampton have lost more points from leading positions in the Prem than any other side this season (20).

■ Saints striker Charlie Austin has scored more goals in all competitions against Brighton (7) than any other side.

■ James Ward-Prowse has scored in his last three Prem games for Southampton

– the last player to score in four in a row for

Saints was Jay Rodriguez in March 2014.