Discipline will be the key to Southampton getting anything against Manchester City on Saturday, according to striker Danny Ings. The Saints are going through a rebuilding process as they aim to move on from last Friday’s nightmare 9-0 home defeat against Leicester.
That result saw them make history, but not the type clubs want, with that defeat the worst by a home side in Premier League history and leading to plenty of soul-searching at St Mary’s.
Some pride was restored by Tuesday’s 3-1 EFL Cup defeat at Manchester City but it is hard to imagine they will return to the Etihad on Saturday with much hope of getting a positive result.
City dominated the ball in the cup match, with their second string proving too good for the Saints and while the likes of Angus Gunn and Nathan Redmond should return to the Southampton starting XI, things are expected to be just as tough for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.
The Citizens have already thrashed Watford 8-0 on their own patch and, after a couple of wobbles earlier in the campaign, look to be clicking into gear.
Ings was on the bench in midweek but will hope to get the nod at the Etihad as the Saints aim for an unlikely victory.
Southampton have not won at City since April 2004 and their recent form is hardly great, having not won any of their last five.
The one-cap England striker admits they will return to Manchester as the vast underdogs, adding that they will need to be disciplined for 90 minutes to have any hope of emerging with anything. “Every team has to be disciplined when you go to places like City or Liverpool,” he is quoted as saying by the Daily Echo. “You have to be disciplined because you can get punished, that’s just the way it is in the top bracket of the Premier League. “We will be disciplined and do everything we can to try and stop them. We will give absolutely everything this weekend.”
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