Southampton's Mauricio Pochettino rejects criticism of FA Cup team

Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino has slammed criticism that he has received for fielding a weakened team during last weekend's FA Cup exit.

The Argentine boss made six changes to his side for their trip to Sunderland in the fifth round of the tournament, and ended up on the losing side of a 1-0 scoreline.

Pochettino has faced criticism for ringing the changes, but the coach believes that the suggestions are "disrespectful" to the players that came into the fold for the encounter.

"I want to make clear that, during the time we've been here, we've shown we fully care about English competitions," Southampton's Twitter page quotes Pochettino as saying. "It's true that we had a bad day. I can understand the fans' disappointment because we're also disappointed."

"We chose the best starting XI. We made the correct decision in picking those players. We had two tough games before that. Perhaps the team was mentally and physically strained.

"I reject any criticism that we didn't put out the best team for that day. We always pick the squad that's best for any game. All of our players have shown they have the capacity to play in the Premier League and the FA Cup. What makes me sad is that these comments are quite disrespectful to those that were on the pitch that day."

The Saints are currently eighth in the Premier League table.