RALPH Hasenhuttl revealed his Saints squad have come together to support Moussa Djenepo.

The Mali international missed the West Ham match after returning home to be with his family, following the sad loss of his mother.

He then spent the weekend in Africa before reporting back for Saints duty on Tuesday ahead of tomorrow’s home tie against Newcastle.

And Hasenhuttl explained that everyone is helping to put a smile back on the 21-year-old’s face.

He said: "It has shown every day since he is here that he is getting his laughter back again.

"I like to see him laughing and don't like to see him when he is sad. He was not really in a good moment when he came back, but now it is getting better and better.

"We are all helping him to get back to the Moussa we know, because he was always the most positive guy in the squad.

"This gives the whole squad a lift sometimes because he enjoys his job so much and was always positive for the team. Now we try to bring him back in this mode."

Hasenhuttl also feels as though playing football can help Djenepo through the pain of losing his mother.

Questioned whether featuring for Saints will be a good distraction, the Austrian said: “Absolutely.

"It always helps if you are on the pitch and doing what you like to do the most.

"That helps you not to forget, but to get a little bit of deflection from what is around you at the moment."

Due to both Nathan Redmond and Stuart Armstrong being absent for tomorrow’s match, it looks as though it’s going to be down to Djenepo and Sofiane Boufal to fill the two No.10 positions.

Because of this, Hasenhuttl doesn’t think the duo’s absences will provide too much of a headache, although he admits he would like to see them defend more effectively.

“We have still Moussa and Sofiane who are two No.10s with different qualities, especially on the ball rather than against the ball. 

“They need to get more disciplined in this position because they have everything to play there. 

“They’re getting better and we work a lot with them and try to find the best way to teach them.  You can see the development, but 90 minutes is long, and it gives you a lot of chances to stand in the wrong position, or not close gaps and not be part of the net. 

“Every time you’re not, it gives a big problem for the team, so we must be very concentrated over 90 minutes and this is something of a problem sometimes.”