RALPH Hasenhuttl admitted the English football schedule “is a little strange” as Saints will now play their final home game of the season midweek due to the FA Cup final.

They had been due to host title-challengers Liverpool on Saturday, May 14, but that match has been moved due to the Reds’ qualification for the domestic cup final that same weekend.

They will face Chelsea at Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup, and will now visit St Mary’s for Saints’ final home match of the season on a rearranged date of Tuesday, May 17.

It is a disappointment for some supporters, who may not be able to make the match due to work or travel commitments but would have otherwise attended on the weekend.

“As long as you have the FA Cup blocking game weekends from the Premier League, it will always end up like this that you have an end of season game during the week,” Hasenhuttl said.

“It is unique from European leagues, I have not known it before like this. The Premier League sometimes also struggle finding dates for the games so it is not so easy.

“I have heard in the past that teams end up with four games in the last week so this is a little bit strange. But if you want to have two cup competitions then it will end up like this, English football wants to see us more often.”

The Austrian continued: “It is amazing, I must say, what teams like Liverpool and Man City are doing, you see the games where players are being substituted in the 70th minute when the game is decided and they look like they don’t understand it.

“It shows how much they want to play every game and how fit they must be. This is amazing for me, but you as a manager have to take care of them because nobody else does it.

“It is amazing what they do, they perform on the highest level and this challenge is one of the characteristics of English football what everybody loves.”

Saints have just three matches left of the 2021-22 season, with Premier League visits to Brentford and Leicester City sandwiching the Kop clash.

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