SAINTS legend Franny Benali admits there is “an awful lot to play for” this weekend at West Ham but insists he saw “traits you want” in the club’s last outing.

Benali has looked ahead to the final 10 matches of the Premier League campaign fresh off the back of his latest fundraising effort for Saints Foundation.

The retired defender is no stranger to completing gruelling endurance feats but his former club will have to do something only two other teams have done in order to beat the drop this campaign.

Saints must become only the third team to come from the bottom of the Premier League at this stage and survive, but the league is also the closest it has ever been since its conception.

They can take confidence from a 3-3 draw with Champions League-chasing Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary’s before the break, in which Ruben Selles’s men were two goals down.

“You cast your mind back to before the international break and with about 15 minutes left in the game against Tottenham we were 3-1 down and it wasn’t good,” Benali told the Daily Echo.

“Then just a little while later you’ve watched an incredible performance and to bounce back from two goals down shows real resilience and character. They’re traits you want, and we’ll need that going into the rest of the season because it’s going to be a tough run.

“We know the position we’re in and what we have to do. There’s an awful lot to play for against West Ham because they’re in a similar predicament to us, but anyone from Crystal Palace down I think can be dragged into the bottom three when you look at the table.”

He added: “The West Ham game is a huge game for both teams. Ultimately the result won’t define our season, but it gives you the chance to put down a marker and put yourself in a better position going forward.”

It is set to be a big moment for Selles, who will be reintroducing 13 internationals, including the likes of new Belgium starlet Romeo Lavia, to his squad for the final run-in.

The last time Saints returned from an international break was the six-week pause in play due to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, under new manager Nathan Jones.

Saints were battered by Brighton & Hove Albion at St Mary’s on Boxing Day and only went on to win one in seven before Jones was sacked.

Benali reflected on the effects of an international break, saying: “I think it depends on the individual, but I think you have to look at it positively.

“You just hope everyone comes back from the break without any injuries and are fit for the remainder of the season,” he added.

“The break will have given the manager and the players he has available to do plenty of work and prepare for the West Ham game on the training ground. The focus is on West Ham and the final run-in. We know what we have to do.”