Ralph Hasenhuttl says he has a “special relationship” with Nathan Redmond which is bringing the best out of the Saints attacker.

Redmond’s brace helped Saints to a 3-1 win over Wolves and took his tally to eight goals in all competitions this season.

All of those have been scored since Hasenhuttl took charge of the club and the turnaround for the 25-year-old has been remarkable.

Hasenhuttl said: “I show him what we need in his position that he plays and show him that he can be the guy who makes the difference.

“He was waiting a long time for a goal but I know it was only a question of time until he scored again and then he was in the right place and very clinical and a good performance.

“It’s a little bit of everything (motivating Redmond). Sometimes giving him a smooth shoulder and sometimes criticise him if I don’t like what he’s doing.

“We have a special relationship I think and he knows I demand a lot from him, not only if he has the ball but also if he works against the ball.

“He shows in every game he is learning and he’s getting better.”

Hasenhuttl gave a chance to another player with pace in the shape of Josh Sims for the win at St Mary’s, surprisingly opting to drop Oriol Romeu.

The 22-year-old was making his first Premier League start of the season having started the campaign on loan at Championship side Reading.

It didn’t take him long to make an impact as he created Redmond’s opener which was scored after just 94 seconds.

“It seems that he had to have a few times to impress me and I think he did with this game against Tottenham when he showed me qualities I need for my game and then I don’t care if he’s a young player or he was on loan,” explained Hasenhuttl.

“I want to give him the chance to play and it was really not easy to pick the first XI.

“I left Oriol out and it was a tough decision for me because he played fantastic games.

“The younger guys showed they were very focussed in the first half and then to have experience on the bench to bring in is never worse for me as a manager so it was important for me.”

Hasenhuttl remains demanding though and already has something to work on with Sims in training.

“I think he has a big chance to score so something to work on for the final action,” he insisted.

“The assist was perfect for him and also a few good scenes.

“He’s not easy to defend because he’s small and has quick moves.”