Alan Pardew says he “won’t be pulling any punches” in the Newcastle dressing room as tries to fire up his players to beat Saints.

The former St Mary’s boss, sacked in 2010, saw the Magpies defeated earlier this season when he had the first chance to try to get one over his former employers.

Now back at St James’ Park for tomorrow’s game there is no doubting his desire for victory.

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He said: “It’s going to be dear to my heart to win this game, trust me, so I won’t be pulling any punches in my dressing room.

“But that’s easier said than done. Southampton have definitely picked up and they play a high pressing game which we are going to have to combat.

“He [Pochettino] has had a good start. There are some good players there and I am looking forward to seeing them. They got the result over us the last time and they thoroughly deserved it, so we need to perform a lot better than we did at their place.”

Full story in today's Daily Echo