MARK Hughes wants his players to stay calm if they take the lead against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Saints were 2-0 up against Brighton before throwing away the chance of a win in the final 25 minutes.

And Hughes has called on his side to improve their game management ahead of the trip to the Vitality Stadium and cut out the costly errors.

Hughes said: “We have done ok up until a point in some games.

 “For the games that we have been in and competed well in, we probably haven’t taken advantage of the momentum when it has been with us.

“There are moments that when you have the ascendancy in the game, you need to capitalise on them and manage the game out from there.

“We need to be better at that. Even when we have had the lead, we concede goals almost immediately after getting our noses in front.

“If we can be better in that regard and maintain our leads better, that allows us to have the chance to manage a game out to a better conclusion.”

With Portsmouth playing their football in League One, Bournemouth-Saints has the potential to develop into an even more hotly-contested rivalry.

Hughes’ side all but guaranteed their Premier League survival last season when they beat the Cherries 2-1 at St Mary’s.

And the Southampton manager has now challenged his players to go and do the same again on Saturday against their local neighbours.

Hughes added: “People talk about a local derby and I suppose it is because they are quite near to us.

“Clearly, our big derby is against Portsmouth and this doesn’t come close to that level.

“But as a consequence of being in the same league and them not being too far down the road, there is a little bit of extra spice to the game.

“Last year was an incredible game at St Mary’s when we needed to get a result and hopefully it will be more of the same.”