Ralph Hasenhuttl admits Southampton have something to prove when they face Tottenham on Wednesday.
Saints head to north London looking to avenge a 5-2 drubbing at St Mary’s earlier in the season.
They will also be stepping into the unknown after Spurs confirmed Ryan Mason will be in charge following Jose Mourinho’s surprise sacking on Monday.
“The work our analysts have done on Tottenham is gone now, we have to face something new,” said Hasenhuttl.
“It will be difficult to prepare for this game because we will maybe see a different side from them and maybe a few new players from our side. We only have a few hours, but we must be prepared.
“It’s important we are emotionally ready for this game, because we have lost against them in the first game. I think this is the motivation for going there and making it better.”
Hasenhuttl has also urged his side not to let their season drift away.
Saints’ FA Cup run came to an end on Sunday when they were beaten 1-0 by Leicester in the semi-final, on the back of a 3-0 Premier League defeat at West Brom.
They currently lie 14th, in no real danger of relegation, but Hasenhuttl insists there is still plenty to play for.
The Austrian is looking for a vast improvement from his attacking players following successive blanks.
He added: “I know at the moment it is not so easy but after the game on Sunday we have shown that we can defend better than we did against West Brom. On this we have to build.
“On the offence, the few chances we will get we must be more clinical and hopefully find the target better than Sunday.
“It’s important that we play defensively like we did on Sunday, but offensively much better because it was by far one of our worst games offensively – for both sides, to be honest.”
