Stephens sees Saints upturn

Southampton defender Jack Stephens feels the players have seen an upturn in confidence despite their 3-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City. Saints went into Tuesday’s Carabao Cup encounter on the back of a night to forget as they suffered a 9-0 drubbing at the hands of Leicester City at St Mary’s.
Southampton were the laughing stock of the nation after the biggest ever home Premier League defeat but they did show more of a fighting spirit as they went down in their fourth-round tie at the Etihad Stadium.
Having had a tough few days after the Leicester debacle, Stephens, who scored his side’s goal in the 3-1 defeat at the Etihad, feels there were positives to take from the defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side on Tuesday and hopes they have given a little back to the fans they let down so badly against the Foxes. “It was tough for us to come here, but I thought we showed a lot of character and fight,” he told BBC Solent. “When it went 2-0 in the first half, after Friday, it would have been very easy to give up like we did on Friday. “It was important that we stood up and stuck together. We gave them too much time in the first half but that was always going to happen because it’s a tough place to come when you are full of confidence, let alone when you don’t have any at all.”
Southampton, who find themselves in 18th place in the table, have the daunting task of returning to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday for a Premier League encounter with the Citizens.
The trip to Manchester this weekend represents the start of the difficult month of fixtures for manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and his side who must then host Everton, travel to Arsenal, before wrapping up the month an encounter against fellow strugglers Watford.