Southampton Under-21s coach Martin Hunter says his side must be very disciplined if they are to complete a hat-trick of wins against Chelsea this season when the Blues visit on Monday.
Hunter’s youngsters beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge early in the season, before knocking them out of the Barclays Under-21 Premier League Cup a few weeks ago.
Saints welcome the Blues to St Mary’s on Monday night, and Hunter wants his players must be at their best as a unit to come away with another win.
“They’ve got some very talented front players and they have midfield players who are confident on the ball and they combine well,” Hunter told youtube.com/southamptonfc.
“We’ll need to be very disciplined on Monday to combat that. It’s always a really tight game against Chelsea. They have some talented players.
“But we’ve done well against them this season. We expect another very competitive and technical game at St Mary’s on Monday night.
“In the first game we played particularly well, but in the second game they had the better of the match. On Monday night it’ll be another technical encounter.”
Six of the starting line-up last time out against Reading were Under-18s, while 15-year-old Jake Vokins also started, and Hunter wants his young players to play without fear.
“They need to take their chance. It’s another good environment to develop and learn in,” added Hunter.
“It’s at the stadium so that puts more pressure on young minds, so we’ll see how they deal with that.
“They have to be sensible, understand the physicality has changed and do things simply and much quicker.”
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