Southampton: Ralph on Saints’ “outrageous” reaction to 9-0 Leicester loss

When kick-off arrives at 3pm UK time on Saturday afternoon, a lot of references will have been made back to Southampton’s 9-0 loss to Leicester in October.

Saints travel to the King Power Stadium for the return fixture and will be wanting to do themselves proud in order to remove any memories of their record loss three months ago.

Given the recent reaction that he has had from his side with 10 points taken from the last 12 on offer, Ralph Hasenhuttl has been speaking about the shape that his side is in heading to the Midlands this weekend.

Referring to the improvements his side have made in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, the Austrian said:

"“At first, I think we had a moment we will never forget. That’s for sure. What the team showed after this result, where we knew it was an absolute disaster for us, was absolutely outrageous from the mentality and character to fight back to a successful way. We didn’t have easy games but we did it really well.”"

It is certainly true that Saints are in a much better situation than they were in back in October.

At full-time having conceded nine goals, Saints looked a beaten side who were at rock bottom – by far their lowest point of this season and perhaps the last three years.

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But now, they have turned things around completely and find themselves in the best form they have experienced for a long time.

Recent wins over Aston Villa, Chelsea and Spurs have provided a huge boost and seen players hit the best of their form in this campaign.

Players such as Jack Stephens and James Ward-Prowse have really come to the fore, whilst Danny Ings remains the goalscoring hero capable of winning games for his side.

This run of results has lifted the club up to 12th in the top-flight table and won back the full support of their fans who were visibly – and understandably – distraught back in October.

Facing Leicester on Saturday will prove a real test of where Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are though and any result will be seen as another superb step forward.

Creating chances against a classy and composed backline will be difficult, and facing a varied attack will provide a huge task for the Saints back four.

However, Saints’ away form is the seventh best in the league and their pressing style has really worried a number of teams this season – could they dent Leicester’s impressive home record?