Southampton manager Mark Hughes has revealed that he wants his players to make a high-intensity return to Premier League action following the international break, according to a report on the Daily Echo.
The Saints went into the international break following a brilliant 2-0 victory against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and Hughes wants his team to continue that form against Brighton on Monday evening.
Players like Danny Ings, Manolo Gabbiadini, Charlie Austin, Nathan Redmond, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ryan Bertrand and Wesley Hoedt have all been able to rest from competitive football for two weeks.
When asked if his players will be fit and ready to push for more positive results, Hughes said:
We are hopeful of that. I think since the Everton game where we didn’t quite understand the intensity for whatever reason of how we need to start games but we have addressed that, we’ve talked about that and having a different focus leading into games and starting games.
It was evident against Leicester, at Brighton and Crystal Palace. We have set a standard now that we can’t slip below.
I would like to think as the season progresses we will keep on progressing and enhancing those levels we are hitting at the moment.
The arrival of Ings has also boosted the side’s attacking threat and he has already got two goals for the club since joining in the summer transfer window. The Saints will also have slightly more time to recover from their travels than most of the other teams because their match is on Monday evening.
