MAURICIO Pellegrino has urged the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg not to give up and keep fighting for their place in his Saints team.

The Danish midfielder has been excluded from the squad in every game so far this season, and is absent today at Crystal Palace because he has returned to his homeland to celebrate the birth of his first child.

But Pellegrino wants the 22-year-old and others not playing regularly to keep working hard because their big chance could be just round the corner.

"In the beginning of the Premier League Pierre was outside of the team because we have got a lot of players there," he said.

"But Pierre is a player that is always ready and you never know in professional football when your opportunity will arise and in this moment you have to be ready.

"But not just in the case of Pierre, there are a lot of players out there waiting because we have 23,24,25 players.

"We can use only 11 every week, but in the top level the good thing is when you get an opportunity in ten minutes you can change your future, your life.

"Pierre is still young and he’s a player who I think will be important in the squad."

The Argentine, who experienced similar times during his playing days when he was on the fringes of the team, knows that it's hard for these players.

“Yes, it’s difficult for them," he said. "It’s difficult for everybody but we have to understand and respect the players who are playing.

"We have to also respect the players who are not playing and have to support them because as a manager the player number 27 I know in some moment he will be important.

"In one year a lot of things can change. The life of the player, the life of the team are changing all the time.

"But you never know when your moment will arrive."

The message from the boss is to be patient.

"When I was a player I was fighting a lot to feel that I’m important in the team. I will tell them ‘you have to fight, you have to prepare’," he said.

"Every week you have to show your quality and the bad thing is if you played well in the last game you have to go again, try to play well, because if not others can be in your place.

"This is most difficult thing."