Southampton expecting Man City backlash, says Davis

(Reuters) - Midfielder Steven Davis says he is expecting a backlash on Saturday when Southampton travel to Manchester City who have lost back-to-back games. Third-placed City go into the Premier League fixture having suffered a crushing 4-1 home defeat by Liverpool last weekend and going down 1-0 at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday. Southampton have lost their last three games against 2012 and 2014 Premier League champions City, conceding nine goals in the process. "The demand from their fans is to win every game and they're coming off the back of a couple of bad results," Davis told the club's website (www.saintsfc.co.uk). "They will be looking to put it right. "It should be an entertaining game but we'll need to be at our best to get something. I'm confident we can go there and do that. "It's going to be a tough game. They're full of quality but it's a game for us to relish. You want to test yourself against the best and this is an opportunity to do that," said Davis. City are in the middle of an injury crisis with captain Vincent Kompany, Samir Nasri, Eliaquim Mangala, Pablo Zabaleta and Joe Hart all set to miss Saturday's game. "I think they were the best side that we came up against (last season). They have like-for-like players who can come in and replace someone if they're out," Davis said. "They were up there with the best in the league in terms of performances against us so we know what to expect. They are full of quality throughout the team." Southampton are eighth in the table after 13 matches, six points behind City. (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tony Jimenez)