Jan’s got Vardy down to a TEA

SAINTS’ BEDNAREK WILL POWER-UP ON UNORTHODOX BREW... AND TRY TO TAME THE ‘LEICESTER LEWANDOWSKI’

PREPARATION is everything for Jan Bednarek – especially when tasked with stopping someone as irrepressible as Jamie Vardy.

So while the Leicester striker downs a can of Red Bull ahead of today’s FA Cup semi-final, Southampton defender Bednarek will be sipping his own special brew at Wembley.

The Poland ace’s preferred tipple before a clash is a cuppa all the way from South America – Yerba Mate (below). He swears by its effects and has already persuaded Saints skipper James Ward-Prowse to participate.

Bednarek, who also employs a personal psychologist, revealed: “It’s a green tea which hydrates you and wakes you up. You feel more energised and fresher.

“It’s a culture for the South Americans, a part of their lives. I just do it on my own, with Prowsey.”

Whether that will be enough to maintain a grip on Vardy, 32, this evening is open to debate. Certainly, Bednarek is under no illusions. He has nothing but praise for the retired England man’s ability to plunder goals into his 30s.

Indeed, he likens Vardy to Poland and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski (right) and evergreen Zlatan Ibrahimovic, still smashing them in at 32 and 39 respectively.

“The difference between a good and a great player is his consistency,” said Bednarek, 25. “He can do it week in, week out – and in every single game can turn the tables with a goal.

“That’s what Vardy has done and it’s what Lewandowski and Ibrahimovic do. We know how Vardy plays but it’s very difficult against him. He’s always running, pressing, always fighting.

“It’s about defending as a group. We can double up, triple up, so he always feels pressure.”

Vardy is only part of the equation for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints as they bid to bury for good the pain of last season’s 9-0 Premier League humiliation by the

Foxes. The wounds from that hammering were reopened two months ago when the South Coast club lost at Manchester United by the same score.

Yet Bednarek, whose red card in that United game was later rescinded, insisted: “This is football. It’s part of history. It’s gone. We cannot affect it anymore.

“It’s Leicester, but we know we can beat them. We did this straight after that defeat at home. We showed we were strong and it was just an accidental defeat.”

Bednarek signed a new deal in December and believes the Saints are making significant progress. He also reckons Leicester, who since winning the league in 2016 have regularly competed for the top four, are trailblazers for the likes of Southampton.

He added: “Leicester are the greatest example that anything is possible. They are consistent – and strong as a group of people. That’s what made them special.”