Southampton Boss Mauricio Pellegrino Issues Rallying Cry to His Players Ahead of Newcastle Fixture

Mauricio Pellegrino has urged his Southampton players to kick start their season by beating Newcastle United at St Mary's on Sunday.

Southampton currently sit in 12th place in the Premier League - just two points behind the Magpies - with both teams looking for their first win in three games.

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Pellegrino stressed the importance of beginning to put points on the board, saying to the Daily Mail: "The game on Sunday is really important for us. It is true that every single game is important, but of our next four games, we have three at home and we have to push ourselves to get the points we deserve."

Southampton may have only conceded seven goals in as many games but they have only found the back of the net in three of those matches, something Pellegrino insists must improve.

"We have to improve not just in attack, but also in defence and in a lot of areas we can be better. Hopefully it will be a good possibility this Sunday to show that we are better than the last game.

"If we drew our last match against Stoke we would not be talking about changing a lot of things. Sometimes you think you have to change things after you have not got the result. But we have to analyse what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong, and we have to keep going with this mentality."

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The Southampton boss will be all-too accustomed with Newcastle manager and close friend Rafa Benitez - the man who he played under at Valencia and earned his first major coaching roles for at Liverpool and Inter.

Pellegrino joked he will 'invite him to have a coke after the game, adding: "'Rafa doesn't need too much advice from me because he is a manager with a lot of experience in the Premier League. He has worked for 20 years, more or less, at different situations. It will be really nice to be with him again and to play against him."