Southampton's Jack Stephens talks about the FA Cup and Danny Ings

The defender has played a crucial role at the back to help steer Saints to three Premier League wins out of four, including victories against Chelsea and Tottenham.

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will likely rotate his squad for this afternoon’s FA Cup third-round tie after a hectic Christmas schedule.

However, Stephens believes it presents an opportunity for the club to continue their hot-streak.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, he said: “It’s not my call and I don’t know if the gaffer will ask me, but I want to play every game.

“I’m in a good moment and want to play as much as I can because it was really frustrating when I wasn’t in the team.

“I want to play as many games as I can, especially when we are on this good run because it’s important to keep building momentum.

“But we’ve got a fantastic squad with loads of fantastic players waiting for their chance.

“I’ve been in that position very recently, so it’s important everyone gets the opportunity to show what they can do.”

Hasenhuttl’s first FA Cup campaign in charge of Saints ended in disappointment, after losing in a replay to Derby in the third round.

But with Saints’ recent upturn in form, they can go into today’s match without having to worry about their Premier League position.

They are just six points off Manchester United, who are currently sat in fifth, after bagging three wins and a draw in their last four games.

Saints haven’t won the FA Cup since Daily Echo columnist and former manager, Lawrie McMenemy, guided them to a famous Wembley win in 1976.

And, because of its fabled history, Stephens made it clear it’s a tournament the St Mary’s outfit want to do well in.

“It’s an important competition,” added the 25-year-old.

“From my point of view, it’s one of the best competitions in the world.

“Growing up, watching the FA Cup, and being a traditional English lad, I had always dreamed of playing in the FA Cup.

“I want to be involved in that and I want us to go on a good run.

“It’s nice that we’ve had a few good results in the league, so the pressure isn’t as high, but we need to turn up on Saturday with the same focus and intensity we had against Tottenham.

“If we do that, we’ll have no problem.”

However, Stephens pointed out that they can’t afford to overlook Huddersfield.

The Terriers were last season relegated from the Premier League after finishing bottom of the table.

It was a campaign that saw former boss David Wagner, the man who guided them to the top flight, leave and be replaced by Jan Siewert.

That appointment failed to work, and they were looking for another new manager, with Danny Cowley taking charge last September.

Cowley looks to have steadied the ship at Huddersfield and won the EFL Championship Manager of the Month for October.

Stephens added: “It’s going to be a tough game.

“They’ve recently changed their manager and I’m sure they will want to come here and prove they are capable of beating a Premier League side.”

Saints’ last St Mary’s outing saw them start 2020 with a stunning win against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham.

Like their performance away to Chelsea, bar a couple of half-chances for Spurs, Saints saw out the game without causing too many issues.

Stephens puts this renewed resilience down to one thing.

“I think it’s confidence,” he explained.

“You get into a routine sometimes and when you get into a routine of conceding late goals, which we were, it’s hard to get out of that.

“You always feel that pressure towards the end of games but once you’ve got three or four games where you’ve kept teams out, that breeds confidence.

“The confidence has been building for the last few weeks and I think against Tottenham we just looked so in control.

“I think they had one half-chance at the end, but the boys put their body on the line and were outstanding.”

Stephens played the defence-splitting pass to assist Danny Ings against Tottenham on Wednesday.

There have been some suggestions that the defender could play in a deep midfield role due to his confidence on the ball.

However, the 25-year-old admitted he wouldn’t have the legs for that – and insisted clean sheets are still the bread and butter of his game.

“I don’t think I can run as much as Prowsey and those boys!” joked Stephens.

“But when that [the pass] comes off it’s nice, but my sole-focus is clean sheets and I’m just delighted we’ve had two in our last three.

“We haven’t had many but it’s a real positive for us.

“Ingsy gets headlines and rightly so because he has been outstanding this season and is scoring a lot of goals.

“I’m quite happy for him to get the headlines but from a personal and defensive point of view, I’m very proud that we’ve kept clean sheets.

“It’s something we haven’t had many of and we have to enjoy them and aim to push on and get a few more by becoming a tough team to beat.”

Stephens also revealed that the team may as well start celebrating before Ings has taken a shot.

He said: “You saw his goal at Palace: he is just always ready for that mistake.

“You are almost celebrating when he is through on goal because you know he’s going to put it away.”