SAINTS chairman Rupert Lowe has slammed what he calls: "press tittle-tattle" linking manager Glenn Hoddle with a return to Tottenham.

Spurs chairman Alan Sugar's sale of his controlling interest in the White Hart Lane club to ENIC, sparked the almost inevitable speculation that head of the media group Daniel Levy would try to tempt Hoddle back to his former club at the end of the season.

Hoddle (pictured right) though, has recently signed a new 18-month contract with Saints up to the end of the 2001-2002 season and Lowe is determined to keep hold of his man.

Lowe reacted strongly to the speculation, saying: "I don't respond to press tittle-tattle and there's little I can do about it if people want to indulge in that and write this sort of thing.

"Glenn is under contact to us and concentrating on winning games for Southampton Football Club, and looking forward to taking this club into next season in the new stadium.

"Nobody has made any contact with me, which is what they would have to do if they wanted to try and take our manager."

Meanwhile Hoddle has put his full squad on standby over Christmas and New Year for a run of games which could make or break the season.

Saints face four matches in ten days starting with a crunch clash tonight at relegation rivals Coventry. That is followed by home fixtures against Spurs and Derby plus a trip to Liverpool, a quickfire spell which will determine whether Southampton push on into mid-table or face a long hard slog against relegation.

And, with little time to recover from injuries, Hoddle has warned his players they may all be needed as he prepares to rotate his squad to keep everyone fit and fresh.

Tonight he is forced into one change with Matthew Oakley still ruled out by a back problem. He is waiting for the results from a specialist but hopes it is only a minor worry.

Oakley is replaced by Mark Draper but Chris Marsden and Hassan Kachloul look set to be restored to the team in the wake of the second-half collapse at Ipswich.

Kachloul may replace Kevin Davies with Marian Pahars switching to the right while skipper Jason Dodd could be the shock choice to drop out for Marsden with Tahar El Khalej taking over at right-back.

And former Sky Blues midfielder Trond Soltvedt could be on the bench against his old club after finlly recovering from a groin strain which has kept him out of action since the end of October.

He was just hitting top form when he picked up the injury in training but he has yet to play even a reserve game in seven weeks so a place among the substitutes looks to be his best hope.

The return of Marsden will add bite to the midfield as Saints attempt to find the killer insitnct which eluded them after taking the lead at Ipswich.

And Hoddle is well aware his side cannot afford a third defeat at the hands of Coventry.

He said: "They have already beaten us twice this season and your pride tells you that you want to put that right.

"Tonight's game is vital with so many fixtures in such a short space of time. If we set our stall out and get a win then it will set us up for the rest."