RALPH Hasenhuttl believes his relationship with Nathan Redmond is continuing to flourish.
Redmond has been a revelation since Hasenhuttl arrived at the club last December, scoring six goals in his last 17 games.
The winger hasn’t found the back of the net since his strike against Burnley in February, but the Saints boss thinks the 25-year-old is only getting better.
Hasenhuttl said: “He knows exactly what he has to do and his quality on the ball is a big one. We need this because it’s always important that you have a guy who can go on dribbling and gives you time to take a breath if you are playing against a big team.
“I always said that I was very critical of him from the beginning and that now we have found a relationship where he knows the only thing I want to do for him is make him better and better. He accepts that he has to work a lot for the team and he does it now in an awesome way.
“I think he is a very important player for the team now and as long as he is positive with himself and has good body language, it will always be a big performance.”
Despite sitting five points clear of the relegation zone, Hasenhuttl believes there is still a long way to go.
However, in their final six games, Saints don't have to play any of the Premier League's top six.
They are at home to Wolves this weekend, before making the trip north to play Newcastle.
The Magpies are only two points ahead of Saints but have also played a game more than the St Mary's side.
In spite of an easier run-in, and having played a game less than some of their fellow strugglers, Hasenhuttl is refusing to get carried away.
He added: “It is not the moment to be confident because we know we still have a long way to go.
“We have a good position for the last six games and we don’t have to play another top six team but that doesn’t mean it’s easy now.
“It’s always difficult to win a Premier League game. We lost the last two against big teams and now we have to stay working hard on our flexibility and on our behaviours.”
Having now played against Manchester City and Liverpool, Hasenhuttl revealed he can't pick a favourite to win the league.
“They are both very hard to defend and I don’t see a lot of teams beating them at the moment,” he continued.
“It’s very good for the league that we have a battle in front. It will be interesting until the end.”
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