Ruben Selles says Southampton still have pride to play for as they see out the Premier League season as a relegated club.
The Saints’ demotion to the Championship was confirmed last week, which means there is nothing riding on this Sunday’s visit to Brighton or next week’s final game against Liverpool.
But the Spaniard, who is insistent that he wants to be the man to try and lead the Saints back into the top flight, says his side still have to be professional.
“It doesn’t matter what sport you practise, the first thing is that you play for yourself and train for yourself and keep fit for yourself and you put yourself into the team, into a group of players that want to do things,” Selles said.
“The first meeting (after relegation) was very simple. It’s nothing new but the fact we can’t get anything from the table, it makes those things a little bit more important than ever because you need to play for yourself.
“When you think about that and playing for the club, the fans that will go and support us on Sunday and against Liverpool.”
The trip to the Amex represents a difficult one for the Saints, whose hosts are vying for European qualification.
They have excelled following Roberto De Zerbi’s appointment earlier this season and Selles says his Italian counterpart is breaking the mould.
“Brighton has a really good season, first with Graham Potter and now De Zerbi, they play attractive football and you can recognise what they do in every single game they play,” he said.
“They are performing really well in the Premier League and if you do that it’s because something has been building up for a long time. I am respectful of Roberto because he is a great coach and you can see it every time his team play.
“I know Roberto from the time in Sassuolo so I know what he can do and from Shakhtar Donetsk. He played amazing football so I am not surprised he can take his style and play it in the Premier League.
“The football in possession he practises is a really good one, it’s a little bit different, it’s usually the big teams that play with that kind of model but Roberto has shown you can do it in a different kind of environment.”
