Southampton star Jan Bednarek has compared playing in the Championship to ‘playing rugby’.
The £5m man has had a brilliant start to his first ever season in the second tier, being described as ‘colossal’ in some matches.
Saints are currently unbeaten in their last eight matches, with that form pushing them all the way up to as high as fourth place, nine points off the automatic promotion places.
Bednarek makes stark Championship comparison
Speaking to Polish outlet O2, in a pre-match press conference ahead of Poland’s Euro qualifier against Czech Republic on Friday night, Bednarek spoke about his season in the Championship so far.
“There is definitely a difference between the two leagues. The Championship is definitely more physical. Whenever I talk to someone, I say that when we stand in a circle before a match, I feel like we are playing rugby.
“The players are tall and physically strong. There are definitely differences in quality, but the league is strong and demanding. The number of games is also physically demanding.”
Saints now comfortable with demands of Championship
The difference between the Championship and Premier League almost certainly would have caught plenty of other Saints players off guard, other than Bednarek.
Russell Martin boasts a number of players in his squad that would have never played Championship football before in their careers, such as Kamaldeen Sulemana, Carlos Alcaraz and Kyle Walker-Peters.
After a tricky start to their campaign, in which they had a four game losing streak in September, Saints have now managed to get a foothold in the division, as they look to get promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.