Mark Hughes has described the visit of Watford to the St Mary's as a huge game for his Southampton side.

One win from the Saints’ first 11 Premier League games has left the south coast club 16th in the table and just a point above the relegation zone, with many questioning Hughes’ position.

The former Stoke City boss saw his side brushed aside by a rampant Manchester City on Sunday as they fell to a resounding 6-1 defeat on the road.

Hughes is in no doubt about the importance of Saturday’s meeting and is expecting his side to show a marked improvement against the Hornets.

“It becomes huge. We know ourselves the areas which we weren’t strong enough [against Manchester City],” Hughes told the Southampton website.

“We will work towards the weekend and make sure the elements of our play that were missing are present against Watford.”

Watford will be looking for a response of their own after falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United in a game they really should have won last time out.

The Hornets were profligate in the extreme in front of goal and were punished for their wastefulness by Ayoze Perez’s flicked header.

They sit eighth going into the clash and are five points adrift of the top five after taking 19 points so far this term.