The Saint SPARKY: REDMOND KEY TO KEEPING US UP
New Southampton manager Mark Hughes is backing Nathan Redmond to keep them in the Premier League. The ex-Stoke boss was appointed this week when former manager Mauricio Pellegrino got the axe after the 3-0 defeat at Newcastle last weekend. Hughes has been given the daunting task of saving Southampton from playing Championship football next season and reckons Redmond is the man to save them. He said: “It is about understanding where players feel the problems lie. “I need to know why certain players have struggled at points in the season and I will get the information to, hopefully, enable them to perform better. “Nathan has been very positive and I have had a good conversation with him already, so I have got a little bit of insight into him. “He is a creative player and we clearly need to score goals. We need to create chances and he is going to be a part of that, so we need him functioning and playing at the best of his abilities. “It is up to us to bring the best out of him.” Hughes takes his new side to Wigan today in the hope of booking their place in the FA Cup semifinal. And the former Manchester United forward reckons it will give his players a chance to forget about fighting the drop.
He added: “Sometimes a player’s view is totally insular – you have to make them understand the bigger picture.
“But players will clearly think about their own situation and it is about me sitting down one-to-one with these guys and getting an understanding of where they are coming from.
“It is all about getting a positive result from the game and a positive reaction.
“It’s an opportunity for us and the fact that it isn’t a Premier League match gives us a different focus.
“There isn’t that anxiety about retaining Premier League status. It is a one-off game, which we need to win and we want to win it.”
Hughes spent two years at the south coast side towards the end of his playing career when he joined from Chelsea in 1998.
During his time at Saints, the 54-yearold went on to make 52 appearances for Southampton, netting two goals.
And he admitted that because of the connection he had with the club, coming back with a chance to keep them in the top flight was an opportunity that he couldn’t turn down.
“I’ve come here with the intention to help a former club, which I have a feeling for and an affinity to,” he added.
“That was clearly in my thinking, but it’s not the easiest situation.
“There are no guarantees in sport, but we will give it our best shot and see where we can take the club.”