Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl: St Mary's must become a fortress
Thursday 20 February 2020 14:52, UK
Ralph Hasenhuttl says Southampton have to turn St Mary's into "a fortress" again and his team must become "nasty" to play against.
The Saints have won just three games at home this season with eight defeats and two draws.
Their away form is better with six wins on the road and five defeats.
Speaking ahead of the home game against Aston Villa on Saturday, Husenhuttl said something has to be done to make opponents fear their visit to the south coast.
"The biggest goal for us is to make St Mary's a fortress again," he said.
"We know about the responsibility we have for this. We must first do a good job on the pitch and then it is also really important that we create an atmosphere that is not so easy for an opponent when they come to St Mary's.
"This must be the goal for the weekend. We need every supporter to give us their voice and to help us take a home win.
"We know that we must give a good performance but that alone is not enough.
"We must show opponents that it is very, very nasty to play against Southampton in our ground."
Southampton have lost their last three games in all competitions, the latest coming at home to Burnley in the Premier League last weekend.
Hasenhuttl was asked if the players were feeling the pressure at St Mary's.
"We know about the history of this season, we have lost a lot of games at home," he went on.
"There cannot be pressure for us, we are a Premier League team, we are Premier League players.
"We have to handle the moment when we go 1-0 down, we get a little bit nervous and are not patient enough.
"This is something we have to turn and we have to work on it. It is not going away, nobody helps us.
"We must put things in our hands and try to change it. I think we can do it because we are trying to develop every part of our game, especially our game with the ball.
"We have made big steps forward in the last (few) weeks."
