RALPH Hasenhuttl admitted he was “surprised” to see Saints’ minority shareholder, Katharina Liebherr, belt out a rendition of Last Christmas at the club’s annual party.

Liebherr sang the fans’ version of the Wham! hit on stage when she was addressing those present for the event.

As well as being taken aback by the gesture, Hasenhuttl explained it’s indicative of the relationship he has with the board behind the scenes.

“It’s not changed since the first day I was here,” reflected Saints’ boss.

“This relationship is important for developing a club and going through the periods which are sometimes more successful or more difficult.

“It’s a special club here and we’ve had this relationship since the first day.

“It was a surprise that she did it but thanks.”

Prompted to judge Liebherr’s singing skills, Hasenhuttl, unsurprisingly, gave her a ringing endorsement, saying it was: “Fantastic!”

There have been calls in recent weeks for the club to consider Hasenhuttl’s position, with some questioning his ability to get the side out of trouble.

However, the board have remained defiant in their support, with chief executive Martin Semmens immediately telling the Austrian he was central to Saints’ plans following the 9-0 Leicester loss.

Due to this, Hasenhuttl has been able to stay focused on the matches ahead, starting with Aston Villa on Saturday.

“I think we have a big game against an opponent that has exactly the same amount of points that we have,” he said.

“It’s an away game and we have showed up this season in away games and have shown some really good performances, so we go there to take something. We know about the importance of the game.

“We have 15 points at this time of the season and if we take another three then we will be closer to the clubs in front of us at the moment.

“It’s important that if we don’t take three points every week then we must have a performance where we can say, ‘Ok, we had the chance to take three points’.

“A few points in our game we do it well for 70 per cent which isn’t enough in the Premier League when you forget about these things for a few minutes.

“The opponent is so strong that they kill you and the goal for the next game is to focus on the 90 minutes.”