Mauricio's five-point preview - Southampton

Mauricio Pochettino looks ahead to our Premier League clash against Southampton on Saturday (3pm) in his latest five-point preview...

1 - A tough spell

A fortnight ago, we celebrated a 4-0 win against Palace, but since then we've seen leads slip at Olympiacos (2-0 up, 2-2) and Leicester (1-0 up, 1-2) and then went out of the Carabao Cup on penalties against Colchester on Tuesday.

Mauricio: “Football changes quickly. We need to stay together and try to be positive and start to win games, that’s most important.”

2 - Keeping calm

Mauricio was asked how he deals with a tough spell and when the results aren't going our way...

Mauricio: “Like always, being tough, try to analyse everything that happens and try to help the players perform. That’s the objective for the coaching staff, to help the players to perform in the way we expect them to perform. It’s our responsibility to keep calm, be right in our assessment."

3 - The target

What is Mauricio looking for from the players against Southampton?

Mauricio: “Again, to recover the best feelings, to perform better, many things that make us feel good and our fans feel proud. Palace can be a reference; I hope we can have the same performance and the same energy that we saw against Palace. I hope we can create a good atmosphere during the game to try to help achieve what we want and that’s the three points.”

4 - Southampton

What does Mauricio expect from opponents Southampton, his former club?

Mauricio: “Southampton are a club I love and appreciate a lot. It’s always special for me to play against them. They have great players and a great manager in Ralph Hasenhuttl, who is doing a fantastic job. It’s going to be tough.”

5 - Troy and Japhet

One thing overlooked at Colchester were the first team debuts of Academy players Troy Parrott and Japhet Tanganga. That makes it 17 debuts handed out to Academy players by Mauricio. How did he feel they got on?

Mauricio: “It’s always important to keep the belief in the Academy, the possibility for them to have the opportunity to play. For me, Japhet and Troy have a future here, only they need time and space to show their quality. They were good but of course disappointed like all the team that we didn’t win.”