IT’S SPARKY V HUTCH

Cardiff and will find one of the most experienced managers in the English game in the opposing dugout.

Warnock has racked up almost 1,500 games, managed 15 clubs, clinched eight promotions, and earned a reputation for touchline confrontations.

New Saints boss Hasenhuttl (at training, below) said: “I think he’s a special character. His team have a lot of good habits. They are physical and they work hard so they are not easy to beat. It’s really a tough game for us and for me after a only a short time with the players.”

But while he may lack English football experience, Mark Hughes’s successor at St Mary’s is an old hand in keeping clubs up.

Hasenhuttl, who left RB Leipzig in the summer, steered Aalen and Ingolstadt to survival in Germany after taking over both clubs when they were knee-deep in relegation danger. And now his first task is to do the same at Southampton who have won just one of their first 15 league games and who sit third-bottom

The 51-year-old, who took over earlier this week following the sacking of Hughes, said: “Yes, this experience helps me a lot. At Ingolstadt we were last after seven matches with four points. We had a little bit more time and more time to train, which was the good thing there.

“I can guarantee you that when you see us playing nearer the summer it will be different from what you see now.

“I can’t guarantee you how many results we will earn for that but I hope it is enough to stay in this division.

“There is no secret to it. It’s all about hard work.

“It’s all about developing on the pitch and in every part of your game – in the mind, in the tactics, and also physically.”