Hojbjerg and Saints pay tribute to St Mary’s support

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has been a key figure in Southampton’s strong defensive showings this year but the Dane insists the real credit must go to the fans.

Saints have only lost once at home all season in all competitions and that was against league leaders Chelsea.

But Virgil van Dijk and holding midfielder Hojbjerg have been two defensive lynchpins for Claude Puel’s side who welcome Spurs on Wednesday night to St Mary’s.

Saints are looking to extend their unbeaten run to four matches and Hojbjerg is confident the partisan home crowd will make the difference once again.

“We saw at Bournemouth how they helped us and how they made us feel at home,” said Hojbjerg.

“When the fans are there, when they give an effort we do also, and this is one thing that goes all together.

“We work and try to do our best and when the fans also do that it’s difficult to play against Southampton.

“It’s important to have clean sheets and stand good in the positions, with organisation then the rest will come because we have talent and quality.

“We need to keep going step by step. The next step is Tottenham and we are looking forward to that.

“We need to look at our game and how we can hit them and we will take it 100%.”