Southampton boss Russell Martin has sung the praises of Jurgen Klopp’s amazing achievements at Liverpool ahead of the Saints’ FA Cup fifth-round trip to Anfield.
Martin will bring his team to Merseyside on Wednesday evening, just three days after Liverpool’s grand Carabao Cup win at Wembley where a late extra-time goal from Virgil van Dijk landed Klopp the seventh major trophy of his managerial tenure with the Reds.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Martin said: “I’m going to stand in the dugout with one of the greatest managers we’ve seen in the Premier League. I think he’s been amazing for the Premier League and what he’s done, not just with the team and how they play on the pitch, but to bring a city together and connect with a community like he has is incredible.
“So I look forward to that very much. We’ve enjoyed looking at the games, like we always do, to try and help prepare us. It’s a brilliant opportunity for us to go there and go toe-to-toe and see how far we’ve come and how far we have to go as well, myself included.”
Former Swansea manager Martin took charge of Southampton in June and led his team through an unbeaten run of 25 games – a club-record – before facing defeat at Bristol City earlier this month. Since then, two more league defeats have led the south-coast club to trail five points behind the automatic promotion spots in the Championship. However, Martin does not view the midweek trip to Anfield as a distraction from their goal of making a speedy return to the top flight.
“No-one will expect us to get anything outside this building, so the challenge for us is to be the team we want to be,” he said. “I say that every week and now we’re going to Anfield, an amazing place to play and they’ve just won a cup in Jurgen Klopp’s final season. So if you don’t get excited by that, or embrace that challenge and look forward to it, then you’re probably in the wrong game.
“It’s one we’re all looking forward to. We want to go there and be brave and aggressive and see how far it can take us. It’s really exciting. We’re going to have 5,000 fans there on a Wednesday night, which is incredible, so it will be a brilliant atmosphere.”
Martin also shared that Ryan Fraser, who is on loan from Newcastle United, is out of contention might not play for about a month after suffering a knee injury during last Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Millwall.
