SAINTS defender Jan Bednarek is ready to do battle with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford this afternoon.

Bednarek knows he will have to be at his best if he is to keep the United striker quiet at St Mary’s.

“We know how good he is. He is a great player with a lot of skill,” explained the Polish international.

“You need to expect the unexpected and be aware of everything. I can’t say one thing that he isn’t good at.

“He can shoot from distance, good skills and that’s it. You have to be focused for 90 minutes to defend against this kind of player.

“That’s what I’m going to try and do.”

Although Bednarek might not be able to match the 21-year-old England ace for pace, he knows exactly how to nullify that threat.

The Saints defender claims that defenders never tend to be the quickest players, but they are usually great at anticipating the danger.

And Bednarek knows that if he is going to succeed in his battle with Rashford, it will be down to being in the right place at the right time.

He added: “It’s all about anticipation.

“Sometimes defenders are really slow, but they are always in the right position at the right time.

“I think it’s coming with experience for the centre-back to anticipate and read the game.

“That’s what I’m trying to learn with every game so that I can get better with this aspect of football.”

Saints will be hoping for their third clean sheet in the space of a week, having already shut out both Brighton and Fulham in the last seven days.

Instead of taking the credit, Bednarek insisted that stopping goals going in isn’t always down to the defensive unit.

“Nowadays everyone has to defend as a team and if you do it properly then you will keep a clean sheet,” explained Bednarek.

“Four or five players in the Premier League is not enough to keep a clean sheet, you need the whole team to do that.

“We try to improve, it’s not easy but we are trying to get better each game, so we can keep more clean sheets."