Dusan Tadic has stomach for relegation fight after growing up on Serbian street football
Southampton striker feels every game is a final now and will call on fighting attitude he picked up playing on the streets
THERE is no hesitation at all when Dusan Tadic is asked if he has ever experienced a relegation scrap.
Quick as a flash, the Serbian schemer answers: “Never.”
At Southampton, he has only been accustomed to top-half finishes — or even the Europa League in the past two seasons.
It was the same at FC Twente in Holland and even a poor season at Groningen saw his side well clear of the drop zone in the end.
But that does not mean Tadic is any stranger to a fight — he grew up playing street football in Backa Topola in his homeland.
He knows that never-say-die spirit is the only way Mauricio Pellegrino’s team will get out of trouble after plunging into the bottom three following Stoke’s win yesterday.
Tadic, 29, said: “Whether you are fighting for the title, fighting at the bottom or fighting for Europe, you are always a professional and want to win every game.
“You are under some sort of pressure to win any match. It is natural. We need to start doing it.
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“Every game is like a final for us, we need to prepare like that.”
It is ten long games without a Premier League win for Saints. Tadic opened the scoring against Everton when they last tasted victory in a 4-1 rout in November.
Pellegrino is under pressure as Southampton’s top-flight status looks threatened but Tadic reckons it is time for the Saints squad to stick together.
He said: “We need to show our faith in the manager.
“In difficult situations, we need to be together and focus only on our jobs.
“It has to be done together, you need everyone helping.
“The most important thing is to go forward from such hard times.”
Southampton’s fight against the drop will be without star player Virgil van Dijk following his £75million move to Liverpool.
The Dutch defender handed in a summer transfer request to make it clear he was not happy.
Saints chairman Ralph Krueger said the saga had left ‘a cloud’ over the club.
But Tadic insists there are no excuses. He added: “My opinion is that players need to be happy.
“You cannot keep them in the squad if they want to go.”
Tadic admitted last season that he was also unsettled during Claude Puel’s reign after being subbed in five straight games.
He is now ready to roll his sleeves up and get the club out of trouble in his fourth season at St Mary’s.
Tadic faces Tottenham today and feels the tide must turn for Saints.
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He said: “We have been a bit unlucky. It feels like everything can go against you at the bottom.
“But we just need to get that first three points again.
“There are no weak teams. It is possible to lose two or three in a row, immediately heads are down.
“But if you win a few, you can easily climb up again.”