Our second Premier League fixture in four days and first in midweek this season takes us to the South Coast to play a Southampton side currently propping up the table.

However, Enzo Maresca warned against complacency at his media conference prior to training, branding the game as our toughest so far this season.

Maresca said: ‘This is the worst game for us since we started the season. The toughest game and we need to be ready, otherwise it will be a bad day for us.

‘If you analyse the results, they are there [at the bottom of the table] but in terms of performances they are very good. They were leading against Liverpool, only lost 1-0 to Manchester City and they drew in the last game against Brighton.

‘I was in the Championship with Southampton last season and I know how good they are. They are very brave, they want to keep the ball and for sure this will be a very difficult game for us and we need to be ready.’

Maresca will have to make at least one change to his starting XI after Wesley Fofana sustained an injury during the impressive 3-0 victory against Aston Villa that kickstarted our busy September.

The head coach has several options who could replace the Frenchman in the heart of our defence, including Benoit Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi.

‘It depends a little bit on the game plan,' Maresca said today.

‘'Benoit could be one of the solutions but we have Tosin and Axel, different players who can play there. For sure, it’s a big loss because Wes was doing fantastic in every game, but we need to accept and find different solutions.’

Whoever comes in will be determined to play their part in maintaining the Blues’ positive momentum and making it three league wins on the bounce.