Southampton manager Claude Puel has hit out at his side's "crazy" upcoming fixture schedule, with the Saints due to play just two matches over the next four weeks.
Southampton have not been in Premier League action since February 11 due to their involvement in the EFL Cup final last weekend - a game which forced their clash with Arsenal to be postponed.
Manchester United's continued involvement in the FA Cup also means that Southampton's league game against the Red Devils in March must also be postponed, leaving the Saints with just two scheduled matches this month.
"My biggest job now is to prepare the team for the difficulty of the calendar. We will play two games in a month after playing every three days since the beginning of the season. It's crazy - crazy for us and difficult. It's difficult to keep good focus and concentration with a game every two weeks. That's why this game is so important for us, and for the table. You saw when we couldn't play against Arsenal we lost two places in the table," he told reporters.
"After Watford we cannot play against Manchester United, and everyone else gets to play. We've got to play against teams who play one game a week. All these are difficulties, they are good challenges, and we have to adapt to these conditions of the calendar. It is difficult. When we have had two weeks before the final it was a good thing because we had played every three days since the beginning of the season. I could give the players four days off, for the first time this season, and that was fantastic for the staff and the recovery of the players.
"We went on a training camp in Spain and it was fantastic work. I said congratulations to all the club staff around the team and for the players also, because they all do fantastic, professional work to prepare for this game and to put the players in the best condition. Now it's different. Two weeks is dangerous because to keep good concentration and focus on the training sessions, the good intensity is very difficult.
"We must keep all the attention of the players. We can train but a training session is not an official game. This is difficult. We played every three days for Christmas, five days and three games was crazy. Just us. Now two weeks every time to prepare for a game is very difficult. It is a real challenge for the next game to find a good result in this condition."
While Southampton have just two games scheduled for March, they are already due to play six times in April with matches against Arsenal and Manchester United still to be rearranged.
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