Austin arrival won’t lead to Shane Long exit insists Koeman

New Southampton striker Charlie Austin has told talkSPORT that his hopes of securing a spot in England’s Euro 2016 squad played no part in his “no-brainer” move to St Mary’s.

United can jump back into the top four if results go their way, and Louis van Gaal’s side have not tasted defeat since their loss to Norwich at Old Trafford in mid-December. I was lucky enough to win the FA Cup and when I lifted the trophy I don’t remember it reading ‘Arsenal (but played badly in the third round)’.

Manchester United host a resurgent Southampton side on Saturday at Old Trafford looking to build on a massive win away at Anfield last weekend against Liverpool.

“They have got two convincing wins in the last two games so we must be careful”.

Charlie Austin could make his Southampton debut on Saturday when the Saints travel to Manchester United in the Premier League.

Last weekend’s 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion moved Southampton back into the top half of the table and helped draw a line under a testing period last month.

Last season it was Van Gaal’s refusal to join his counterpart for a postmatch drink after United’s smash-and-grab 2-1 win at Southampton, which irked the usually mild-mannered Koeman, and the Barcelona legend could not resist having another dig at the United manager in Thursday’s prematch press conference. Jay Rodriguez (foot) and Florian Gardos (knee) remain on the sidelines.

Wayne Rooney has now scored 98 Premier League goals at Old Trafford.

Manchester United have won seven and lost just one of the last 10 Barclays Premier League matches against Southampton, but that defeat came in Saints’ last visit to Old Trafford.

Southampton have scored a league-high 13 goals from crosses this season and have also netted a joint league-high nine headed goals (alongside WBA).

When asked if he had been impressed by United’s recent revival – Van Gaal’s side are unbeaten since the turn of the year, reducing the chances of his dismissal before the summer – Koeman said: “Not impressed, because I expect Manchester United to fight for the title”. Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw are out from before.