Ralph Hasenhuttl wants Southampton to be a force in the cups again

Ralph Hasenhuttl intends to maintain Southampton’s cup exploits for as long as possible once again as he looks to fully utilise his squad.

The Saints travel to Sky Bet League One side Cambridge on Tuesday night on the back of a first Premier League win having come from behind to beat Leicester.

Hasenhuttl guided Southampton to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup last season and also reached the fourth round of the FA Cup.

While there will be plenty of rotation at the Abbey Stadium, Hasenhuttl sees no reason why the squad cannot be competitive on all fronts.

“We are hoping to be as long as possible in these (cup) competitions because we know how important it is to give everybody a chance to play,” the Southampton manager said.

“I think last year we showed how far we want to go. We don’t have a bad record in both cup competitions and this is how we take it.

“We will have some changes in the team but we are taking it very seriously.

“We remember last year when we won at home against West Ham with nine substitutes, so what you see is possible and when you take it seriously then you can also perform with other players.”

Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is expected to come in for a first appearance of the new campaign and winger Nathan Redmond should also feature along with Theo Walcott while youngsters Diamond Edwards, Dom Ballard and Dynel Simeu could also be involved.

“We will try to rotate a little bit,” Hasenhuttl confirmed. “There are some guys out there who need to get game time also and we will see how much we do it.

“There are possibilities as, in general, it will be a different game because we will have more of the ball I think and that creates a different game immediately.

“We will see how offensive we will be and how much of a change in shape we will have.”

Southampton, meanwhile, have paid tribute to former midfielder David Armstrong, who has died aged 67.

Armstrong joined the club from Middlesbrough in 1981 and went on to make 272 appearances, scoring 71 goals, helping Lawrie McMenemy’s side finish runners-up to Liverpool in 1984.

“Everyone at Southampton wishes to extend their condolences to David’s loved ones, who our thoughts are very much with at this time,” a club statement read.