Sellés looks to instil belief

Southampton manager Rubén Sellés has vowed to keep his positivity, as his side continue the fight against relegation at Newcastle United on Sunday.

Thursday night proved to be another difficult evening for Sellés and his team, defeated 1-0 by AFC Bournemouth at St Mary’s Stadium.

But the wait to bounce back comes just three days later, a trip to high-flying Newcastle in the fourth and final meeting between the two sides this season.

With the stakes rising with every game, Sellés was asked what the message for his squad would be ahead of Sunday’s return to St James’ Park.

“The disappointment is there, of course,” admitted the manager, “but I’ll always keep my positivity because I see [the players] working every day, I see the things they can do.

“Sometimes for some reason we are not getting there, but I will keep my positivity until the very end.

“I still think we can do it and I still think everybody at the club, the technical staff, the players, are able to do it. We just need to keep that belief because then the things can change."

The last visit to Tyneside came in the semi-final second leg of the Carabao Cup, Newcastle one-up from the first leg at St Mary’s.

After just 21 minutes the tie got away from Saints, Sean Longstaff with a double in front of the Gallowgate Stand.

Ché Adams halved the deficit on the night with a sweet strike from 25-yards eight minutes later, something Sellés is keen to focus on ahead of the Premier League return.

“We conceded two quick goals and put ourselves out the game,” reflected the boss. “we cannot repeat those same mistakes. We need to be ready from the very beginning.

“We showed, especially in the second half of that game, we can create some damage with some of the positions we had. We also showed we can be a team that can compete against them.

“That’s what we learnt at that time and we need to go for it.”