Steven Davis has refused to underestimate the undoubted threat that Manchester United can pose ahead of Southampton’s Barclays Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Despite the high-flying Saints currently sitting four points and five places above United in the table, the midfielder is keen for his side to avoid any complacency when they face the champions for the first time since David Moyes took over from Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer.
“I think they’re always games you look forward to, no matter what – whether it was Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm or David Moyes,” the Northern Irishman said in his pre-match press conference.
“I think if you took your eye off the ball in any way then you’d get found out. We know how difficult the game is going to be and the quality they possess.
“They’ve obviously had a difficult start to the season, but they had a good result away to Sunderland last time out and they’ll be looking to try and continue that kind of form. I’m sure they’ll not take us lightly given the start we’ve made to the season, so it bodes well for a good game.
“We go into every game believing we can get three points,” continued Davis. “Obviously each game pans out differently. The biggest thing for us is it’s a game we can go to and look forward to, given our position in the league, but at the same time we want to go there and get a result – and that’s the most important thing.
“You don’t want to criticise United because you know what they’re capable of, but West Brom went there and put in a good performance and deservedly won the game.”
While fully in the knowledge that Saints are brimming with confidence due to three consecutive league wins, Davis looked to stress that United also boast certain players who are enjoying similar veins of form.
The 28-year-old added: “It’s a game that we’re looking forward to and if we can show a similar performance that we did last year up there then we feel we can get a good result.
“You need to get the right balance – you don’t want to be over-confident going to a place like United, you know how tough it’s going to be. [Wayne] Rooney’s been banging in the goals, [Robin] Van Persie’s been banging in the goals on the international break, so they’re going to be two players that are high in confidence as well.
“It’s going to be a big test for us in terms of seeing where we’re at in this season and how it’s going to pan out.”
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