Jurić: I don't want to rest players
Southampton manager Ivan Jurić will be looking to his key players ahead of Swansea City's visit to St Mary's in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Saints start their Emirates FA Cup journey with a home tie against Swansea City, looking to progress past the third round of the competition for the sixth successive season.
Looking to continue this record, but also with an eye on re-building confidence, Jurić has stated he will be approaching the fixture as normal.
"I think the players are working hard and well and I think we have to find a way to be much more competitive. We’re working a lot to find our identity and we’ll see on Sunday how hard we’ve been working.
"For us [the FA Cup] is really important. We need the joy of playing good games. For us in this moment everything is important. I don’t want to rest [players]. I have 17, 18 players, maybe more, who are competitive. I just want to win the game and then after the game I’ll think about Manchester [United] and Tottenham."
Defender Armel Bella-Kotchap has been back training with the group, with Jurić keeping his cards close to his chest on whether a return to the pitch is near: "We will see."
Elsewhere Gavin Bazunu will continue his long recovery from injury at the end of last season with minutes for the Under-21s tonight against Fulham.
New addition Welington could join Bazunu at Staplewood Campus, looking to feature for the first time in red and white.
