SOUTHAMPTON boss Russell Martin has revealed his excitement for his side’s upcoming run of tough fixtures.
The Saints are set for nine games in 35 days as they prepare to kick off their festive fixture run.
Having played once a week for the first third of the season, Saints now enter a demanding period with fixtures coming thick and fast – twice a week – until the new year.
In those nine games, Martin’s men will face seven of the current top 10, including a quarter-final clash at home against league leaders Liverpool – a daunting task for anyone watching in from the outside.
Yet, Russell Martin sees this as a period to gain some momentum in the league.
“Honestly, it’s such an exciting month. People talk about the difficulty of the games and the level of competition we face in the next four or five games.
“It’s what we all work so hard for and we should be excited about the challenge. Teams have shown in recent weeks that you can pick up results against big teams.
“We can try and get a bit of routine and rhythm and start building into something, hopefully, that will see us in a very different position at the end of the month.”
With such a packed festive period, injuries are inevitable, and unfortunately for the Saints, they’ve already begun to take a toll.
Summer signing Aaron Ramsdale is set to miss around four weeks after undergoing surgery for a broken finger, while defender Jan Bednarek will be sidelined for around a fortnight due to damaged ligaments in his knee.
“They’ll both be out for this weekend and a number of weeks. Aaron’s had an operation on his finger so expect him to be back hopefully, this side of Christmas.
“Jan will be hopefully a week or two before Aaron but they’ll miss this block of games and we’ll do everything we can to get him back as quickly as possible.
“It’s a massive blow ahead of what is a busy period as they’ve been two of our best players. They’ve been two of our best players all season.”
Substitute goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is set to make his first league start since Newcastle back in August, and Martin is confident he will handle the occasion with ease.
“I’m excited for him. I have so much trust in Alex, we all do, and I really mean that. The guys see what a top goalkeeper is every day.
“I’m comfortable with Alex going in. He’s done a brilliant job for us whenever he’s played. At the end of last season, maybe we’re not here if he doesn’t perform.
“He’s a brilliant goalkeeper and a brilliant person, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he does.”
The Saints are still languishing at the bottom of the Premier League with just four points and will kick off their festive run with a home fixture against Liverpool on Sunday.
