Jay Rodriguez says victory against Aston Villa tomorrow will set Saints up perfectly for the demanding run of fixtures through to the new year.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side return home for the first time in nearly a month, as they welcome Paul Lambert’s mid-table team to St Mary’s.

Saints are aiming to rebound after suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, following their losses at Arsenal and Chelsea.

The fixtures don’t get much easier for them, though, with Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea also at home between now and January 1, as well as trips to Newcastle, Cardiff and Everton.

“It’s obviously a big run of games coming up all of December and we know that,” said Rodriguez.

“I think the game on Wednesday if we get a good result then we can take confidence from that.”

Saints have not lost at St Mary’s yet this season, and they will hope to keep that record intact this week, as Villa and City come to visit.

“It’s a massive week,” said Rodriguez. “I think every game we go into we believe is massive.

“It’s a big part of what we do. We treat every game the same, so it’s something to look forward to and also we know it’s going to be hard work.”

The striker added: “It does feel like it’s been quite a while (since we’ve been at home). It’s always nice to play at St Mary’s.”

Rodriguez is also glad that Saints are back in action so quickly following two defeats.

“For me, personally, I always think it’s the best way to recover from a game, is to play the next game as soon as you can, so hopefully it will be good for us.”

But he is not expecting an easy ride against a Villa team that have only lost once away from home in the league this season.

“They’re a great side,” said the 24-year-old. “We played them last year and they were a great side. Hopefully we can get three points.”