Strachan's south coast jibe

Redknapp cancels Christmas

Southampton manager Gordon Strachan has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Portsmouth rival Harry Redknapp.

Pompey boss Redknapp moaned after Sunday's south coast derby defeat at Saints that he was missing six key players through injury.

But Strachan said: "I can't remember anyone feeling sorry for us last year.

"We went through the whole campaign without Agustin Delgado, our record striker, or Marian Pahars, our leading scorer the season before."

Strachan, whose side climbed to fourth in the Premiership with Sunday's 3-0 win, added: "I don't think anyone said 'oh, what a shame for them'. We shut our mouths and got on with it.

"I certainly cannot remember any sympathy coming our way."

Even so, Strachan is delighted to have a virtually fit squad heading into the holiday campaign after going through most of last season without some key players.

"We've got more goals since Marian and Tino came back, even though they haven't scored most of them," Strachan said.