Niemi targets Saints comeback

Southampton goalkeeper Antti Niemi is winning his battle to be fit for his team’s vital home clash with Aston Villa on Saturday.

The 32-year-old Finland international, who has been plagued by injuries this term, jarred a hip before last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Blackburn and although he travelled with the squad to Lancashire, there was never much chance he would play.

Saints manager Harry Redknapp is lucky to have a high-calibre deputy in Paul Smith but will be glad to see Niemi, who recovered from a knee problem earlier this season, resume full training at the end of this week.

And Redknapp will be desperate to see some of the spirit he has injected at Southampton return after a miserable display at Ewood Park plunged them back into the bottom three.

Redknapp has now set a 10-point safety target from the remaining six games but skipper Claus Lundekvam insists: “There can never be another performance like that in our situation.

“I don’t know where it came from because we were playing well and we’ve had a long chat about it.

“To be honest, our work-rate and commitment has got to be a lot better. I felt sorry for our fans going all that way to shiver in the rain and see that. We have to put it behind us but work on making a great improvement against Villa.”