Jack Cork is hoping to end his own personal Cardiff hoodoo on Boxing Day.

The midfielder has never tasted victory away to the Welsh side during his career, but will have a chance to put that right on Thursday.

In five previous attempts, Cork has suffered three defeats and earned two draws.

Saints will hope to take advantage of the recent turmoil at Cardiff, where Malky Mackay’s position as manager has been shrouded in uncertainty.

But, like managerless Spurs offered, Cork is expecting a stern test from their opponents.

Cork said: “You could say (it is a good time to be playing Cardiff), but you never know.

“Like Spurs, you could have said it was a good time.

“You don’t know what is going to happen, so it is going to be a tough game in Cardiff.

“It is a place I have struggled for results in the past, but hopefully I can end that hoodoo and boost our Christmas.”

Cork rekindled his midfield partnership with Morgan Schneiderlin against Tottenham, with the pair starting a game together for the first time this season.

That combination was one of the major foundations upon which Saints built their success in the Championship two years ago and also their survival in the top-flight last term.

With £12.5m summer signing Victor Wanyama still sidelined, the duo look set to continue at Cardiff.

“It has been a while,” said Cork. “I loved playing with him last year and I am a bit gutted I’ve not been able to do it this year.

“Hopefully I can get a few more chances to try and get that partnership going again.”

Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at home to Tottenham extended Saints’ winless run in the Premier League to six games – equalling their worst league run since Mauricio Pochettino took over.

With challenging fixtures against Everton and Chelsea ahead, Saints could really use three points on Thursday in a place they haven’t won a league point at since 1974.

Cork is glad the club have another game so soon and is hoping they can quickly reverse their fortunes.

“We’re playing all right,” he said. “I mean, the lucky thing is it is like the Championships days, with all these games.

“We have a game on Thursday now to try and get this out of our system, which I think is quite good after this.

“We want to get straight back at it.

“There is a lot of frustration inside the changing room, so it will be good to get back out and try again.”

The 24-year-old added: “We have been playing against some tough teams.

“The only team we haven’t played in the top six or eight (in the last six games) has been Aston Villa.

“Those teams are always hard to play against. They will all want to be at the top of the table, but so do we.

“Them sort of teams know how to win and that is what we need to get instilled into us, a mentality to win.

“We need to get back on track as soon as we can.”