Glenn Hoddle has banned his Saints players from using the F-word ahead of Saturday's visit to Old Trafford.

The Saints boss has ordered his team to forget the fear factor in what is one of the most daunting games of the season.

Manchester United have not lost at home in the Premiership since December 19, 1998, but Saints were one of only four teams to prise a point from the fortress last season.

With new resilience on the road, they have been beaten only twice away since March but, with the champions' stadium now extended to a 67,000 capacity, Hoddle knows this will be a test of character.

He said: "We will respect them of course because they are a fantastic side but we will not be afraid of them. If you fear them you will get trounced. We must show a lot of bottle and raise our game because they are one of the best teams in Europe."

"If we are going to get a result, we will need every player to turn in a nine-out-of- ten performance.

"Monday's home defeat by Manchester City was desperately disappointing bec-ause we didn't keep the ball as we have been doing, but there are still a lot of positive signs.

"The players will be up for this one and we will go there in a positive frame of mind.

"In many ways we have played better away from home than at The Dell this season, which is unusual - over the years it has usually been the other way round.

"This game will be a good barometer of how far we have come, because they don't come any bigger than this.

"I looked at their bench last Saturday and they had David Beckham and Ryan Giggs warming up. That's not a bad pair to have waiting to come on!"

It was Beckham who effectively killed Hoddle's World Cup dream when he was sent off against Argentina during France '98.

That costly moment of petulance fully justified all the England manager's fears about the player's suspect temperament ahead of the tournament.

But in his recent autobiography, Beckham criticised Hoddle for those views leading to national media speculation about the Saints boss featuring in a little black book of hate targets.

Hoddle has declined to get drawn into a slanging match but stresses he has never had any doubts about the United star's footballing skills.

He said: "He is a magnificent player either out wide or inside. He has terrific ability, he is a great passer and has a lot of energy.

"But he is not alone there. United have players coming at you from all angles.

"There is Giggs on the left and the pace of Andrew Cole. Dwight Yorke is in form and Teddy Sheringham has been on fire, al-though he might not be injured now.

The list goes on. We just know we have to defend well and show a lot of character."