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Mauricio Pellegrino expects his Southampton team to build on their encouraging draw against Manchester United.
Saints have not won in eight games, but held United in a goalless stalemate at Old Trafford on Saturday.
But while that result will have lifted spirits at St Mary’s, their next opponents, Crystal Palace, are also buoyant ahead of what manager Pellegrino regards as a crunch match on Tuesday.
Palace, who are only a point behind Southampton in the Premier League’s tightly packed bottom half, claimed a highly creditable 0-0 draw against leaders Manchester City in their last outing.
Pellegrino said: 'It is a massive game for us but we have to try to do really good to keep going from the performance against Manchester United.
‘The Premier League is really tight and we need to gain three points, but Crystal Palace are getting better, they are improving a lot. For both teams it will be a massive game.’
Pellegrino accepts that he may not have the quality of the likes of City and United in his squad but is determined to ensure that a strong team spirit can make up some of the difference.
The Argentinian said: 'It is one thing is to have a squad with players with quality and another thing is to have a squad with 11 players competing as a unit, with togetherness and to build a team that plays football well. It is something completely different having big players.
'This is my goal from the first day. Sometimes we did well, sometimes we did bad but I will continue fighting for my ideas.
'To play well and try to win games you need character, you need physical condition, you need to play well, good football. You need to focus in the small detail, you need a lot of things.
'It is not just about one thing but obviously the spirit, we need to build ourselves and look forward.
‘Every single game in the Premier League can create problems. I was happy on Saturday but we have to continue improving.’
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St Mary’s
7.45pm GMT
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