Ralph Hasenhuttl urges 'aggressive' Southampton approach at Watford

By Matthew Treadwell

Monday 22 April 2019 14:24, UK

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has urged his players to be more "aggressive" when they play Watford on Tuesday night.

Saints lost 3-1 at Newcastle on Saturday as Ayoze Perez scored a hat-trick for Rafa Benitez's side to banish any lingering relegation fears for the Magpies while keeping Southampton in trouble.

A 2-0 defeat for Cardiff at home to Liverpool on Sunday means Southampton remain five points clear of the drop zone and a game in hand ahead of the trip to Vicarage Road but Hasenhuttl is demanding a "perfect performance" against Watford.

"The message must be that a little bit of playing football is not enough for us, so we have to be aggressive again," he said.

"We have to work harder than we did on Saturday in the first half because otherwise against Watford, a very strong team, it is again a big problem to take something.

"I think we have the quality to win there or to take a point, but we need a really, really clinical and perfect performance."

Watford face Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley on May 18 but Hasenhuttl does not believe that will have any impact on how they perform against Southampton.

"They have two chances to get into Europe, so they will try to grab the first one with both hands on Tuesday," he added.

"To go there is nearly as difficult as to play against one of the top six, so we need a very, very good performance.

"For us, it's about getting better in the game, like against Newcastle, and if we do so, then I am convinced about my team that we always can score, we always can win games, also away games, so I am not frightened about this game.

"But we must be clear that we need a better performance than on Saturday."