SAINTS are “recharged and ready” for an intense fixture schedule with 10 Premier League matches in six weeks, says Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The Austrian boss arrived at St Mary’s from German Bundesliga side Red Bull Leipzig and has admitted that the English schedule, with no winter break, took some getting used to.

Following the conclusion of the international break, Saints have non-stop Premier League action until the FA Cup third round tie at the start of January – by which point over half of the league season will be finished.

“This is what I have to learn when I came here,” Hasenhuttl admitted, speaking ahead of the visit to Norwich, “that it is important to rest before this intense time of year.

“I was not used to it when you come from Germany where there is a winter break and you have time to recover, you have to be a little bit different here but we are used to it now and as I said everybody is fit apart from Jack Stephens, so I have a massive headache – but this is what I need.”

He continued: “Yeah this is an intense time of the year, but with tough fixtures coming up you have to be prepared.

“The batteries are recharged, we are ready for this tough time of year coming up. We are prepared for it.”