FORMER Manchester City captain Andy Morrison has warned his ex-club that Saints are “very clever,” and have an “astute” manager ahead of their upcoming clash.

Morrison, 51, captained City to a 1999 Second Division playoff final win at Wembley Stadium.

The currently untouchable Cityzens travel to St Mary’s tomorrow off the back of 12 consecutive Premier League victories.

However, Morrison still has warning reserved for his old side, as he thinks Saints will present a very real threat to their unbeaten run.

“Southampton are very clever in the way they play, they get into central areas in the attacking third and look to win fouls because of the quality James Ward-Prowse can deliver,” he told City’s club website.

“From wide areas, the defensive line has to be incredibly disciplined and must stay as high as possible.

“You’re trying to make it two phases of play before the opponent can get a shot on goal, with the free-kick obviously the first phase.

“Ideally for the attacking team, it’s headed or scored on that first phase, but if you can make it so your line is around the 18-yard box, it means a header or shot from there is going to be harder to score (than inside the area).

“In and around the box though, I think it’s a lottery. As Ward-Prowse showed against Wolves, whether it’s 35-yards or 20-yards, it’s a unique talent he has and something he’s obviously worked on.

“To get the whip and to get the ball to actually dip the way it does, so much top spin has been put on it. It looks like he doesn’t plant his left foot, he has to have it off the ground to create that movement.

“Ideally, City need to not give free-kicks away, but if we do then we’ve got to have an incredibly high and disciplined line.”

Ralph Hasenhuttl's Saints were able to hold City to a 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season.

Continuing, Morrison labelled that visiting performance as “courageous”.

“It’s demanding and it asks a lot of the players,” he added. “But I think the manager’s very astute and will think outside the box, he comes up with game plans against City.

“In last season’s game, Southampton left two players high and were marking the two centre-halves, so they stopped them receiving the ball. Whenever they made a press, City could basically only play forward and it made play more predictable.

“It was very courageous, it left Southampton vulnerable to overloads in midfield but it worked for the best part of half an hour and they had some really good chances.

“I thought they were the better team against Wolves in their last match and unfortunate to lose, but that’s football.

“They’ll be a wounded animal, and there’s always a great atmosphere at St. Mary’s, but if City are at our best we should have too much for them.”