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Ralph Hasenhuttl: Southampton boss 'better manager' after 9-0 defeat to Leicester

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Ralph Hasenhuttl believes his side's record-breaking 9-0 defeat to Leicester has made him a 'better manager'

Ralph Hasenhuttl insists he is a '"better manager" following Southampton's embarrassing 9-0 defeat at home to Leicester.

Saints suffered the biggest defeat to a home side in top-flight history when hat-tricks from Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy stunned St Mary's on Friday Night Football.

Hasenhuttl came in for criticism after the loss and admitted he had never experienced a period like this in his managerial career, yet believes he will become stronger because of it.

Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse, Southampton
Image: The 9-0 loss equalled the biggest defeat in Premier League history

He said: "It has never happened (before) that I lost a game like this. It is very challenging but this is why we are here.

"It's not an easy job, it never is and in such moments it's even more important that you be a strong manager and look for the right decisions.

"I think these days were new for me but I'm now a better manager than before and this is the good thing from this game, and if the players see it the same they know that they are better players in the future.

"After 9-0 there is no more discussion necessary, I think everybody knows in that way we cannot continue and I think you could see that on Tuesday it was a much better performance."

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Hasenhuttl insists his team need to be 'as nasty as possible' if they are going to get a result against Manchester City

'Need to be nasty against City'

Southampton's subsequent game was a 3-1 defeat against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Hasenhuttl's side have the chance to redeem themselves when they travel to the Etihad for a second time in five days to play City in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Austrian believes his team will have to be "nasty" to get a result against the English champions and will take inspiration from Tuesday's positive performance.

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Highlights of the Carabao Cup last-16 match between Manchester City and Southampton.

Hasenhuttl said: "It's an away game but against a not so bad opponent. But you always have a chance.

"I think both teams will take the good and the bad things from the Tuesday game and try to change a few things. They will do it and we will do it.

"It's another game of being as nasty as possible and giving them not so many chances.

"From our side we need to be a little bit more self-confident. In the last game, in the beginning we really avoided making mistakes and this is normal, but in the second half I think we showed that we can play much better than in the first half.

"We also added a little bit more possession and made better moves and scored one goal. This is something we can build on and that's what we want to do."

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