Liam Fontaine admits Bristol City owe their hard-pressed supporters a vastly-improved performance in this evening's Sky-televised screen test at Southampton.

But more than that, he believes he and his team-mates owe it to themselves to put the record straight following last Saturday's shocking 4-1 demolition at the hands of Championship promotion favourites Reading.

City's heaviest home defeat in more than two years proved a chastening experience for players who have become accustomed to success in recent times and who aspire to Barclays Premier League status.

Out-performed in just about every department, last season's beaten play-off finalists simply had one of those afternoons which is best forgotten in a hurry.

Yet, without a midweek game to ease the pain, Fontaine and his colleagues have been consigned to an uncomfortably long period of introspection, forced to dwell on where they went wrong against the Royals.

In addition, they have endured a hellish week on the training ground, irate manager Gary Johnson and his staff prescribing a series of physically-punishing sessions designed to administer a short, sharp shock to the system.

Fontaine and Co have accepted their medicine without complaint and are now ready to channel their seething discontent into a restorative performance at St Mary's.

"Training has been very hard, but it's no more than we deserved," admitted Fontaine, who will again partner Jamie McCombe in the centre of defence in the continued absence of injured captain Louis Carey. "Sometimes that's needed and you just have to be professional and take it.

"It was the kick up the backside we all needed after a poor performance against Reading. Losing like that hurt, because we didn't turn up on the day. Reading were at their 100 per cent best and that's why the gap looked so big.

"Having to wait a week to put it right has been horrible and we've been a lot more focused and serious. Training has been very competitive and there's been no joking around.

"The lads want to prove last week was a one-off and I think we owe ourselves, the fans, the gaffer and the coaches a good performance. We all had a bit of a nightmare against Reading and, hopefully, there won't be too many more days like that."

City have developed a habit of recovering quickly from heavy defeats, but will need to improve upon their last visit to St Mary's if they are to return with anything at all to show for their efforts.

Beaten 2-0 back in April, City were comprehensively out-played by from start to finish by a Saints side which plundered goals through Stern John – who is now on loan at City but is ineligible for tonight's game – and Jason Euell.

"That game was played in very different circumstances," recalled Fontaine. "Southampton were fighting for their lives near the bottom and we were going for promotion.

"A lot has changed since then – we haven't started as well as we would have liked, while they now have a very young team and a new manager (Jan Poortvliet) in charge.

"What happened last season will make us even more determined, but it won't have a bearing on this game. This is a different game being played in different circumstances.

"Southampton now have a very young team and, hopefully, our extra experience will show on Saturday."

City may occupy a mid-table position, yet Fontaine remains confident he and his team-mates can still make up lost ground and mount a sustained promotion bid between now and the end of the season. He added: "We're nine points off second place and, although that's quite a big gap, it can be made up very quickly. If we can string together a series of wins and the teams at the top suffer a couple of defeats here and there, we can definitely put ourselves back up there by Christmas.

"We mustn't allow that one result and performance against Reading to affect our confidence. We went on a four-game unbeaten run before that."

Bristol City (from): Basso, Orr, McCombe, Fontaine, Wilson, Williams, Johnson, Elliott, McIndoe, Adebola, Trundle, Noble, Akinde, Webster, Sproule, Maynard, Weale.