‘Benali smashed me in face with cast on’: Huge Portsmouth favourite on Southampton rivalry as Bournemouth boss looks to send foes closer to Premier League relegation

The Bournemouth boss will walk a gauntlet of hate tonight when he takes his side to St Mary’s Stadium - bidding to take another step towards Premier League safety.

O’Neil is guaranteed a warm welcome from the home crowd, for his strong links with the club he came through the ranks at to play in the Premier League.

The midfielder became Pompey's youngest player when he made his first-team debut aged 16 years, eight months and 12 days against Barnsley in 2000. That was the pre-cursor to a total of 192 appearances and 17 goals over eight years - including the 4-1 demolition derby win in 2005.

O’Neil recalls his first taste of the Southampton rivalry when playing against the fierce foes as a 15-year-old - and coming up against Francis Benali that night.

He told Sky Sports: ‘My first ever reserve game, because we used to have reserve teams back then, was for Southampton against Portsmouth at Havant & Waterlooville.

‘There were about 3,000 fans there and I was only 15 playing right midfield against Francis Benali. As soon as I tried to run in behind him before kick-off he smashed me in the face with a cast on his arm.

‘I’d come straight from maths, come to play for Portsmouth reserves and got a cast smashed into my face. So I thought: “Ah, this is what senior football is going to be like!”.

‘That was just a reserve game! So yes, there were some fierce games between Portsmouth and Southampton.’

Southampton have got the better of Bournemouth in their past three meetings, with O’Neil looking to redress the balance tonight. Doing so would leave Ruben Selles’ side facing a massive uphill task to stay in the top flight.

O’Neil added: ‘Of course, we’ve had some good games with them since I’ve been at Bournemouth. We’ve not managed to come out on top yet, but we’ll try to change that.’