Ralph Hasenhuttl has admitted that Antonio Conte has transformed Tottenham as a team but backed his players to match the North Londoners physically this afternoon.
Tottenham travel to St Mary’s later today, knowing that a win will take them three points off Arsenal in fourth place, with two games in hand over the Gunners.
It will be a big test for the Lilywhites after a string of wins under their belt at home over recent weeks.
The Lilywhites have only played one league game away from home under Conte – the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park which was the Italian’s first game in charge.
They will be taking on a Southampton side who are fresh from a morale-boosting win over West Ham, and Hasenhuttl has admitted that his players will take some confidence into the Spurs clash on the back of Sunday’s win.
The Saints boss told Southern Daily Echo: “(Spurs are a) strong side, very mentally strong now with a lot of quality upfront and every position. A very intense way of playing football now and, yeah, a super tough challenge for us.
“We are also physically a good team and we will fight for everything on Tuesday – this is for sure. This game (West Ham) gives us a little bit of a boost definitely, it helps us definitely for going into two home games now with our crowd behind us and showing a real fight.”
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Tottenham’s forwards have been on fire over recent weeks while the team has also looked solid defensively, having kept four clean sheets in six league games under Conte.
While Hasenhuttl admitted that his players face a stern test on this afternoon, he insisted that they have no fear of going up against the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
The Austrian added: “Yeah, it’s not so surprising when you speak about Kane, Son and Moura. There is not much better in the Premier League.
“I think it was more important that he (Conte) stabilised the squad in the defence also and this is what he definitely did.
“I know that they are now working harder and tactically have taken a step forward, they are one of the best teams in the league but we are not scared.
“We have shown against top teams that we can take points and this is the plan again on Tuesday.”
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While Spurs have looked much better organised over recent weeks, playing away from home will be a different challenge altogether.
However, the one thing that could work in our favour was the fact that the second half against Palace resembled a training exercise due to Zaha’s red card.
On the other hand, Southampton were pushed to their limits at the London Stadium on Sunday and so they might tire quicker in today’s clash.
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