Southampton boss highlights Salisu’s strengths ahead of Liverpool trip

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said Mohammed Salisu’s strength is without the ball and he has the potential to be a big player for the club.

The Ghana defender has played in eight Premier League matches so far since his permanent signing from La Liga club Real Valladolid last August.

Ahead of their league trip to Liverpool on Saturday, Hasenhuttl disclosed the area that Salisu needs to improve on after overcoming his injury challenges.

The Austrian coach also lauded the 22-year-old for his fighting spirit and strength on the pitch during the Ramadan period.

"I think against the ball he has big strength,” Hasenhuttl told Daily Echo.

"With the ball, he can still improve and get better, but I think this is also a part of the game that we are working hard with him on it. Finally, I am sure that for us he will be a big player in the future.

"Absolutely. I must say he has at the moment, like two other guys also, a problem with Ramadan where they have during the day not a lot of things to eat.

"Then you are thinking is it possible for him to fight 90 minutes hard? But on Friday he showed that he is able to do it.

"We had the break for drinking [during the game] after the sun goes down and then he was there. He was unbelievable, fighting for this team and congrats on this performance."

Last Friday against Leicester City, the Saints were forced to introduce Salisu as a 15th-minute substitute for Nathan Tella following the expulsion of Jannik Vestergaard in the 10th minute.

Southampton battled for a point in the game and Hasenhuttl lavished praise on the Black Stars centre-back’s contribution.

"He is fantastic there [at centre-back],” he reflected on Salisu’s performance.

"He heads so many balls out of the box and was absolutely a wall there to defend. But also the other guys did a good job.

"Jack and Jan [Bednarek] and Kyle[Walker-Peters]. Even the strikers were working hard, Che [Adams] was amazing, kept so many balls there.

"Reddy [Nathan Redmond] was working hard, Taki [Minamino] always defending well. So they showed some qualities we haven’t shown in the past.

"We had a good week training and finally put the good performance on the pitch."