BOSS Ralph Hasenhuttl heaped praise on the passion of Saints star Moussa Djenepo and said: “It’s really amazing how good he plays at the moment against the ball.”

The Malian winger played 90 minutes in Saints’ 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea on Saturday – and will hope to keep his place at Leeds United in the Premier League tomorrow (6pm).

And Austrian boss Hasenhuttl insisted he could see the work being put in by Djenepo, coming to fruition.

The Saints boss said: “Against the ball he is getting better and better. It’s really amazing how good he plays at the moment against the ball.

“This is what we need. His passion here is definitely something that helps us.

“Especially this part of this game is developing massively since he’s here and, for me, is one biggest strengths so far.”

Former Standard Liege man Djenepo has played 17 times for Saints this season, starting on 12 occasions for Hasenhuttl’s side.

He found the net during a 2-0 home victory over West Bromwich Albion back in October.

The draw against Chelsea ended a run of six straight league defeats for Saints.

Assessing his side’s most recent display, 22-year-old Djenepo said: “We are happy because it is a good point for us.

“We knew before the game that we needed it and we did it. We need to keep going.

“It is an important point for us after poor games. Now we need to focus for the next games.”

Saints are set to face a Leeds outfit sitting one place above them in 12th spot in the Premier League at present.

“It will be not easy. But we will always fight to do our best to get points,” said Djenepo.

“We definitely need to focus on our game. We are excited to go there and show what we can do.”