Premier League Preview: Newcastle v Southampton

Interim manager John Carver wants his Newcastle United side to avenge the 4-0 defeat to Southampton earlier this season in Saturday's reverse Premier League fixture at St James' Park. 

Under Alan Pardew, Newcastle were well beaten on the south coast in September during a dismal start to the campaign that saw them stay winless in the league until mid-October.

Carver is continuing to hold the fort as Newcastle finalise their search for Pardew's long-term replacement and is determined to pick up his first win in charge. 

"I will be reminding the players in our team meeting how poor we were down there. We will be looking to put the record straight," he told a news conference.

"[Southampton] deserve to be where they are - to be sitting third in the Premier League after [the players] they lost in the summer is incredible. 

"They've replaced the players with better players in my opinion and they've a top head coach who has them well organised and working extremely hard for each other, as we saw [in the win] at Old Trafford last weekend. 

"They have a lot of talent in the team and deserve to be where they are." 

Mehdi Abeid (toe) and Siem de Jong (thigh) remain ruled out, despite returning to training this week, while Carver's opposite number Ronald Koeman also has injury concerns over Morgan Schneiderlin (thigh) and Victor Wanyama (hamstring).

Wanyama picked up the problem during Wednesday's 1-0 FA Cup third-round win over Ipswich Town - a result that extended Southampton's unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions. 

Having taken seven points from nine against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in the top flight recently, Koeman's main concerns are likely to centre around injuries and squad rotation. 

Toby Alderweireld (hamstring) is another absentee, but Shane Long - who made the most of a rare start to score the winner at Portman Road - was pleased to give Koeman a selection headache.

"The main goal is the league but the gaffer gave the likes of myself, Florin [Gardos] and Matt Targett a run [against Ipswich] and a chance to prove we're ready when called upon and I think we showed that," he told the club's official website.

"I think the gaffer will have a few headaches over his starting 11, but what manager wouldn't want that?

"Hopefully I've proved my point and I might start [in the next game], but if I don't then I'll look to make an impact by coming off the bench."