BOSS Ralph Hasenhuttl insisted Alex Jankewitz would “come back stronger” from his red card setback at Manchester United last month – as he heads into Euro 2021 action with Switzerland under-21s tomorrow.

The 19-year-old was infamously sent off against the Red Devils during St Mary’s side’s 9-0 defeat at Old Trafford in early February.

Referee Mike Dean showed Jankewitz a red card after just two minutes of his first Premier League start, following a reckless tackle on Scott McTominay.

Midfielder Jankewitz has not featured for Saints at senior level since that sending off but did play for Dave Horseman’s B team in a 2-1 Premier League 2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.

And the Vevey-born youngster is included in the Swiss squad to take on Aidy Boothroyd’s Young Lions during the group stage of the tournament in Slovenia tomorrow (2pm).

Asked what impact the infamous red card would have on Jankewitz as a young individual, Hasenhuttl said: “You can definitely have better starts than he had in a Premier League game, definitely.

“But, like we all do, we all learn from mistakes, everything what we are is based on our history and based on what we have learned or done in the past.

“There’s nothing negative in life that you cannot turn to a positive and this is what he has to do, like everyone else does.

“We are all sometimes punished from decisions we make, wrong decisions and then you have to learn and do better in the future. When he does this, then he will come back stronger.”

Jankewitz was subjected to racial abuse online following his first Premier League start, with Hasenhuttl strongly condemning the posts made via social media platforms.

“It’s not acceptable, absolutely not acceptable. I mean social medias have their responsibilities to stop this, definitely,” he said.

“I have my own opinion about how quick this can go but maybe then there are not so many people around there in the social medias anymore, when you stop the anonymising of messaging.

“But it is definitely one part of our society that is not acceptable.

“Finally, he is punished enough for the mistake he made, but I am not here to blame him, definitely not, I’m here to help him out and make him stronger in the future and he will come back stronger for sure.”

Jankewitz has played for Switzerland’s age groups from under-15 all the way to under-21 level.

He has six caps for the under-21 setup and could play in games against England, Croatia and Portugal in Group D of the tournament throughout the international break.