FABRICE Fernandes and Anders Svensson were under more pressure than most to deliver the goods against Aston Villa - and Paul Sturrock was pleased with their displays.

Both Fernandes and Svensson have struggled to hold down a regular starting spot in Sturrock's first choice XI since he arrived at the club - and both have been publicly told they need to do better.

Fernandes had only started three of Sturrock's first eight games in charge before Saturday - though that was still one more than Svensson had.

With Sturrock assessing who he wants to keep at the club this summer, it was vital they performed for their futures.

Playing in the wide left and right midfield slots respectively against European hopefuls Villa, they did just that.

Sturrock said: "It would have been very easy for me to take Anders out of the team and not play him this week, but I did feel the pressure had to be put on him.

"I've always had a worry that Anders didn't appreciate a wide position would suit him - he wants to be a central player.

"But the last two games when I've played him in the centre it's not been to the standards that I've seen on the tapes before.

"This game he's come in and done a good job (on the right) and done all things I've asked him to do."

He added: "The boy Fernandes, who at times can be so exciting, came to the show and looked a different class in the first half.

"He tired dramatically and that's because of all the work we did (in training) last week, but I was very pleased with the way he performed.

"He worked back as well and sometimes we can point the finger at Fab over his defensive duties.

"But he worked tirelessly and seemed to be appreciating if he wants to play in the team he has to work back."

The match was a hard-fought 1-1 draw and Sturrock was pleased with the performances of his side in the face of a huge number of injuries.

"We've been very unsettled with the international weeks and the injuries which has meant that experienced players are out of the team, but you look at the game and a draw was a fair result," he said.

"We were playing the form team in the league and we came out of it looking about the same as them.

"I was very pleased because we had a lot of young players trying to find their feet in the Premiership and it's enabling me to have a clearer picture of how these players will develop through next season."

He added: "Aston Villa are the mirror image of what I'd like to bring to Southampton.

"They have very aggressive full-backs who get forward and get crosses in the box, and the boy Angel is an excellent striker who runs the line well and is strong in the air.

"Beattie would benefit much more if we put in more crosses.

"We put in more crosses in this game and he didn't get on the end of them, but at least we showed we took the things we'd worked on in training into this game.

"It's going to be a benefit to us to have pre-season training.

"Last week we didn't have a day off and we showed how we can work offensively at home."