Southampton boss Alan Pardew has drummed into his players the importance of putting on a show ahead of tonight’s mammoth trip to Hartlepool.
The Saints are still in the relegation zone despite an upturn in form and supporters will be sacrificing a day ff work to make the long trip north.
He told www.saintsfc.co.uk: “Getting to Hartlepool is easy for us, but for our fans it isn’t. This is a hell of a journey, so it’s important that we get the message to the players how important the journey for them on a work day is.
“You’d like to think that there’d be a bit more protection for the fans really. We’re fortunate to have a flight because some clubs don’t have that luxury. Fortunately we’ve got an owner who is backing the side. Nicola Cortese has given us this option and we thank him for it.
“Hartlepool are a side that are good at home, they keep it very, very tight and defensively I think they’re a strong team with a good points total.
“But we really must go there to try and win, because we’ve dropped points and we can’t afford to do that, so we have to go for a win.”
