MARK Hughes ditched training at Staplewood yesterday in a bid to end Saints’ wretched home form.

Hughes had his squad of players training at St Mary’s to try and help them get their first win in front of their supporters this season.

Saints have only picked up one victory at home in their last 16 attempts which caused Hughes to switch things up with his players in order to turn that record around.

Hughes said: “I think everybody knows if we keep on doing the same things it’s a sure sign of madness. If you think it’s going to change doing the same things you’ve got to mix it up.

“We will see at the weekend if it has an impact. It won’t do any harm to have a change of scenery.

“Sometimes going into a training ground every day comes a little bit monotonous.

“It’s good for the guys to reacquaint themselves and get their reference points about where they are in the stadium and to get used to the environment they will be playing in at the weekend.

“We’ve done it in the past and we’ll see if we get a reaction from them.”

Saints are in desperate need of a win after their 6-1 defeat to Man City last Sunday and Hughes doesn’t want to head into the international break on the back of a poor result.

Watford had an electric start to the season winning their opening five games in all competitions but have hit a dry patch with only two victories from seven outings.

And despite his players being under pressure to get the win, Hughes is confident his team have the attributes to overcome the visitors.

“They [Watford] have had a good run,” Hughes added.

“They have had a lot of energy in their squad.

“Winning breeds confidence so they are in a good frame of mind.

“But I would be very disappointed if we didn’t go in with the attitude that this is a game we want to win ourselves to get maximum points.

“People say we are under pressure, so we have to use that as a motivation. Watford have got talent and they’ve had a good start, but we think we are capable of beating them.”

Saints are likely to be without Wesley Hoedt in defence after he picked up an infection in his foot and there were doubts over Mario Lemina when he strained his thigh, but he is expected to be fit.

Alex McCarthy has been recalled to the England team for their UEFA Nations League fixture against Croatia and friendly with the USA.

The goalkeeper had to withdraw from the previous international squad due to an injury, but Gareth Southgate has shown faith in the shot-stopper and selected him again.