RALPH Hasenhuttl has opened up on the £20,000 fine he received from the FA for his comments the last time Saints visited Stamford Bridge at the start of October, ahead of the EFL Cup clash with Chelsea tonight.

His comments, which were said tongue-in-cheek about Mike Dean as the VAR official, came after the 3-1 defeat to Blues which saw James Ward-Prowse see a yellow card become red following Dean's intervention.

The Saints manager said: “I know when Mike Dean is the VAR, he will definitely send him to have a look on it – then it was given.

“But he did his job and I don’t want to say it was his fault, that it’s a red card. I haven’t seen it so far. I don’t know.

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“He’s attacking a bad pass from the goalkeeper, maybe he’s a little bit late. I don’t know.

Daily Echo: James Ward-Prowse will serve the final match of his suspension when Saints travel back to Chelsea (Pic: PA)James Ward-Prowse will serve the final match of his suspension when Saints travel back to Chelsea (Pic: PA)

“It’s so high up the pitch it’s also not so smart from Prowsey. He knows this, not to go there in this intensity.

“A yellow card, okay, but a red card is tough.”

The FA said in a statement: “Southampton FC’s Ralph Hasenhuttl has been fined £20,000 after admitting a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to their Premier League match against Chelsea FC on Saturday, October 2 2021.

“The manager accepted the charge that comments made during a post-match interview constituted improper conduct in that they questioned the integrity of the VAR Match Official and/or implied bias and/or bring the game into disrepute.”

Hasenhuttl now returns to the same scene, still without suspended skipper Ward-Prowse, to take on Thomas Tuchel’s Premier League-leaders in the round of 16 of the EFL Cup competition.

Daily Echo: Ralph Hasenhuttl watched his team taste defeat at Stamford Bridge in October (Pic: PA)Ralph Hasenhuttl watched his team taste defeat at Stamford Bridge in October (Pic: PA)

Asked about the charge and fine, Hasenhuttl revealed: “I don't want to speak about this fine. I have accepted it.

“It is very difficult after a game when you do four interviews and three are deemed okay but in one you say some words that aren't perfect. You just have to accept it.

“This is my mistake. I hope it doesn’t change my interviews because I always try to give you, in my words, what I think about the game. When this happens, we have a problem.

“I keep on going, it's how I do it. I've always been respectful I think so far and I will do that going forward.”

Daily Echo: Oriol Romeu has captained Saints in James Ward-Prowse's absence (Pic: Stuart Martin)Oriol Romeu has captained Saints in James Ward-Prowse's absence (Pic: Stuart Martin)

He continued: “We accepted that it was a red card, it was a clear red card. We did not appeal it. There was no reason to criticise the referee. It's history.

“We have a good game on Tuesday, a good challenge. We will make it as tough as possible for them.”

Saints will travel back to London at the weekend, facing the prospect of another important Premier League occasion against Watford – who just beat Everton 5-2 at Goodison Park.

But with a bigger squad and more depth to choose from this season than last, it shouldn’t mean Saints aren’t able to name a team that can be competitive with Chelsea, who are buoyed off of a 7-0 demolition of Norwich at the weekend.

Daily Echo: Mason Mount scored a hattrick as Chelsea romped to seven at the weekend (Pic: PA)Mason Mount scored a hattrick as Chelsea romped to seven at the weekend (Pic: PA)

Previewing the contest, Hasenhuttl said: “We will need everybody and when you need everybody, you need to give them lots of chances to play.

“So there will definitely be new players in the team, this is normal.

“That does not mean that we will go there and not want to win, we have a bigger squad, deeper squad with quality and this is what we shall see on Tuesday.”