Mauricio Pellegrino has called on his players to focus on their jobs and block out the pressure when they take on Huddersfield at St Mary’s this afternoon.

After five games without a win Saints have crept nearer to the bottom three, and with trips to Tottenham and Manchester United to come immediately after Christmas they desperately need three points to calm some nerves.

Huddersfield would seem perfect opponents, given their poor away form this season, but on the back of a 4-1 victory at Watford last time out could cause a few problems.

Saints will also have to contend with a potentially restless crowd if things don’t go well from the start, with supporters likely to be demanding much more from their team after seeing them hammered 4-1 by Leicester last time they played at St Mary’s.

Pellegrino said: “The most important is our behaviour on the pitch.

“The feelings are emotions and emotions are important but at the end it’s not a fact. The fact is that we have to show we want to win this game, we have to better than the opponent.

“It will be a difficult game because every game is a different history.

“We have to push ourselves to show our best version of ourselves to do this, and we cannot use other games as a reference without two or three players who are injured.

“Every single game things can happen.”

He added: “I try always to help them be focussed on what you have to do on the pitch.

“When you think about what you have to do in your actions it’s easier.

“When you think about a picture the decoration is nice, but the most important is the picture.

“Sometimes the emotion is important, but when you think about the decoration you don’t think about your action.

“You have to try and paint a good game, and focus 100 per cent on your job.”