Hasenhüttl expects a confident West Brom side
Southampton's next opponents, West Bromwich Albion, may find themselves in a precarious position in the Premier League table, but Ralph Hasenhüttl is in no doubt about the high levels of confidence and motivation they will bring to Monday night's game.
Sam Allardyce's side go into the latest round of fixtures second from bottom in the standings and in significant need of points. However, they are also heading into the match off the back of a famous 5-2 victory away to Chelsea in their previous outing – a result that sparked hope of a potential great escape for the Baggies.
There is still plenty of work to do if they are to overhaul the eight-point gap that exists between them and safety in their final eight matches, but Hasenhüttl believes they will be a highly-motivated and confident outfit.
"Yes, definitely, and a good opponent also that knows how to score goals, knows how to win against good sides, and we know that it will be a difficult game for us," he said.
"But it's important for us to keep on playing like we have done in the last game, especially in the offence. We need a little bit better defending. Especially in the beginning, it was not really good against Burnley, but then I think if we show the best from us then I think we have a good chance to win there."
Saints beat West Brom 2-0 at St Mary's earlier in the season, but, since then, Slaven Bilic has been replaced by Allardyce, meaning there is little of note for Hasenhüttl to take from that first meeting ahead of Monday's clash.
"I think there are some changes also in the shape and a few new players also, so it will be a completely different game," he said.
"I don't think that we take anything from the first game to prepare for this one. It's a new challenge for us and I'm sure there will be an opponent who is fighting for everything and taking maybe their last chance.
"They need from these last eight games we have maybe five or six wins to stay in the league, so they know this, and with every win they can get the belief is a little bit growing and we know that we have to show a good performance, otherwise it will be difficult to win there."
