Dean Smith says Aston Villa are a different side to the one that faced Southampton back in February.
Villa produced one of their poorest displays of the season in a 2-0 defeat at St Mary’s last term, having also lost the reverse fixture 3-1 at Villa Park.
Heading into Sunday’s clash against the Saints, Smith feels his team have come a long way since that dark day on the South Coast.
He said: “I feel we’ve improved a hell of a lot. We were awful when we went to Southampton.
“The goals changed the game when we played them at Villa Park last season, plus the fact that John McGinn limped off after ten minutes.
“They will expect to face a different Villa team this season. We’ll also be expecting a different team because they’ve also improved a lot since last season.
“I want a good start from the players, I want them to play with high energy.”
While Villa have improved markedly since Project Restart last season, Southampton also came back from the break reinvigorated.
And after a bright start to this season, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men are unbeaten in 11 of their last 13 Premier League games.
“They’ve got goals in the team with Danny Ings and Che Adams,” said Smith.
“They’ve got a really good systematic approach that works for them. We’ll have to be at our best.
“They’re very organised and they’ve got two strikers who are very bright and work very hard. They won’t give our centre-backs much time on the ball at all.
“We have to be wary of their strengths and try to exploit their weaknesses.”