How do you prepare for and manage a game against Manchester City when your team has just lost 9-0?

It’s not a question that Ralph Hasenhuttl would have ever thought he would have to answer but following the shambles at St Mary’s last Friday night it was exactly the position he found himself in.

The first tactic was to close ranks.

Aside from the statement about the players and staff donating money to charity, it was silence from Staplewood with the regular pre-match media commitments shelved.

That in itself was an interesting decision, and rather typical of the damned if you do and damned if you don’t nature of this fixture for Saints.

There was literally nothing Hasenhuttl or his squad could say that would be well received or make up for the 9-0 humiliation.

But to say nothing also smacked, frankly, of a little bit of fear. If you take the view this was brought on by those involved, then surely they have to stand up and take the flack that will come their way no matter what is said to them in response.

It didn’t really look all that much better if it was done with the justification of letting the performance on the pitch at City do the talking.

Saints started the game like a team who seemed petrified.

Understandable to an extent. They must be mentally shot away, all confidence stripped. And to go to the Etihad is the last thing you need.

The pre-match dilemma for Hasenhuttl was whether to try and be really competitive with City and risk another beating or park the bus, at worst keep the score down and at best stay in the game and hope for something unexpected to happen.

When Mark Hughes talked of damage limitation after facing Liverpool at Anfield he was pilloried. Yet the first half display at the Etihad must have been about as negative as Saints have been.

They were so deep and so defence minded they gave themselves no chance to even retain the ball. At half time they were 2-0 down, the game was basically over, they had yet to have a single shot on or off target and had enjoyed just 20 per cent possession.

In the second period as the threat of a potential hammering receded, Hasenhuttl made positive changes and Saints looked livelier.

Perhaps that is a small step in the right direction. Mentally, Saints need some comfort. They have to do it all over again on Saturday.