MANAGER Russell Martin admitted that Saints are likely to make changes against Bristol City due to the hectic fixture schedule.

Southampton's home game against Bristol City tomorrow is their second of three games this week, and, more than that, their second of 10 games in 37 games.

With fixtures coming thick and fast, Martin insisted that players will need to be rested out of "necessity" while also hinting at giving players a chance to impress.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday evening's game under the lights, Martin said: “There will probably be some changes tomorrow night out of necessity because we are trying to manage people through a really busy period of games between now and January.

“Some are out of physical requirement and some are because we are trying to manage the squad in the best way possible. We are trying to keep everyone motivated and hungry because we trust every player here.

“Taking one player out and putting another player in shouldn’t weaken us in any way really. Sometimes it does, but it shouldn’t because of the quality of players we have here.

“When players are in a rhythm and are playing a lot of minutes it’s a good place to be. I think in the last three-game week we used every player - I probably don’t see this one being much different."

Saints will be Bristol City's third opposition since Liam Manning took the reigns at the club, replacing Nigel Pearson.

Daily Echo:

Manning, who arrived from Oxford United, is yet to taste defeat in charge of the Robins and recorded his first win over Middlesborough last weekend.

"I thought Nigel Pearson did a really good job there, I've always enjoyed spending time with him and his staff after games," Martin continued when asked about coming up against Manning, who became MK Dons manager when he moved on to Swansea City.

"I think Liam has done amazingly well. For players and coaches, timing has to align. I don’t know him very well, he obviously followed us into the job at MK and nearly took them up. 

"Now he has an opportunity to coach at this level. He will be grateful for that, as am I, and I’m sure he will be desperate to make sure he stays here.

"They (Bristol City) are changing a bit. They are a young hungry squad with a lot of academy graduates in their first team - they are doing something really brilliant at that club.

"He has inherited a squad which has a really good foundation from Nigel’s work. It’s going to be a tough game for us. The more British coaches that are in there doing their thing I am all for it."