SAINTS won’t be deploying a tailor-made plan to halt Aston Villa star Jack Grealish.

Grealish has been Dean Smith’s side’s best player this year and has recently been tipped for a big-money move to Manchester United.

However, Ralph Hasenhuttl believes because of the way Saints defend, he doesn’t need to make any special plans for the Englishman.

When asked about deploying specific tactics to stop Grealish, Hasenhuttl said: “No.

“We never do this. We defend ball-orientated, so we are more focused on where the ball is and not Jack Grealish.

“We never care about single players. Every Premier League team has one or two fantastic players.

“If you defend together as a team that it doesn’t matter.

“We will try to defend together because this is our behaviour. We need to pay attention to the counter.

“All these things the team are prepared for and hopefully we show this.”

The reverse fixture at Villa Park saw Saints ease to a 3-1 win, with Grealish adding the consolation goal for the home side in spectacular fashion.

That result led to Saints embarking on a run that saw them beat Chelsea, Tottenham, Leicester and Crystal Palace over the Christmas period and beyond.

Smith’s team have won just twice in the Premier League since that match but boosted their confidence by booking a spot in this year’s Carabao Cup final.

And Hasenhuttl paid tribute to Villa for turning their season around.

“They are still a strong side and they have shown in recent weeks that they compete against any team,” Hasenhuttl added.

“They played Tottenham at home and could have won this game, so they’ve had a really successful term since our last game.

“They are a completely changed team and the manager has done a fantastic job to turn this around.

“They are still a team fighting to avoid relegation, but we are also not far away, so we need every supporter to help us and create an atmosphere where we can take points out of it.”

Should Saints win tomorrow afternoon, they’ll open a nine-point gap over Aston Villa.

Although that would seem to be an unassailable cushion at this point in the season, Hasenhuttl is only focused on reaching the 40-point mark.

He said: “We are looking at the next game.

“The most important thing is that we are able to reach 40 points as soon as possible.

“With 31 at this time of the season, I’d have been happy with that before the season, but it’s always tough when you lose the last two games.

“Liverpool is a game you can always lose but Burnley at home was a chance for us.”