Dusan Tadic says Claude Puel needs to play his best Saints team at Liverpool

With Saints' confidence and momentum back on an upward trajectory after their first Premier League win this year against Leicester City, Tadic believes that Puel cannot afford to rotate against Liverpool.

The Saints manager has not named an unchanged starting 11 on any occasion this campaign, making nearly 200 changes in the process.

But with Saints heading to Merseyside with a precious 1-0 aggregate lead, Tadic reckons that it’s logical to keep with the best side possible, especially following a much-needed bounce after beating Leicester 3-0 at St Mary’s yesterday.

“I think yes,” he said, when asked if Puel needs his best side out at Anfield. “For myself I think yes because sometimes players are tired, but most of the time we are ready to play every three days and we play from the beginning of the season.

“For us, this is not a problem [to play], but the coach decides.

“My opinion is that you need to have always the best team out on the pitch in that moment.”

Puel has maintained that, with the games coming thick and fast, the players can’t play in such regular intervals.

Subsequently, the Frenchman tinkers  incessantly, despite most of the players maintaining that they don’t need to be resting, even with Saints in the midst of their busiest-ever Premier League era season.

“For me personally, I don’t need a rest,” the playmaker said. “Physically I feel very well.

“After the injury on my nose I needed a little bit of time, but now I feel very well and I can play every three days.

“I think most of the players feel like that.

“You are really motivated and you want to show yourself [that you can play every three days].”

The 27-year-old Serbian international admits that recently departed captain Jose Fonte leaves a big void in the Saints camp, after moving to West Ham in an £8m deal.

Tadic said: “We will miss him [Fonte]. He is a very good professional – a very good guy. He was important on the pitch and important in the club.

“Football is like that. Everyday there’s something new and we will miss him a lot, but we wish him all the best and hope he will do well there.”

Fonte’s exit from St Mary’s has left a sour taste in the mouth, after the Portuguese international agitated for a move away.

But Tadic says it’s something that the team can’t dwell on.

“Football is like that. You never know what will happen. One day you’re here, one day somewhere else. It’s football and we need to accept that,” he said.

“We need to show a good mentality. We will miss him [Fonte] on the pitch and the dressing room and we need to feel that somebody take the place of him, but we will do that.

“We will not feel his absence, I hope.

“It will be strange, also for him and everyone.”

Tadic hailed the 3-0 win over the Foxes as a real confidence builder ahead of the crunch Liverpool game on Wednesday.

“It was very important,” he said. “We needed that win. We showed, especially in the first-half, that we can play very good football and we need to keep playing like that.

“We knew we had four defeats and we knew we had to show ourselves and it’s a very important three points.

“It’s very important but we need to be consistent. We have now a very tough game and we need to be ready to try and go to the final.

“It can build confidence but still we need to prepare mentally and show that we can be that team that will be in the final.”

The Serbian playmaker, who scored from the penalty spot late on against the Foxes, reckons that Saints need to relax as they head to Anfield with a precious 1-0 lead.

“We need to relax and to play like the first game here against them. To fight for each other and play a strong match,” he said.

Virgil van Dijk hobbled out of the Leicester win, but Tadic is hoping he’ll be fine for the Liverpool showdown.

“We need to prepare as best as possible,” he said. “I hope he (Van Dijk) will be fine. If he is not we need to find somebody who can replace him. We know it will be tough, but it’s like that in football.”