Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl says he only wants players with an “open mind” after criticising the high number of unvaccinated footballers.

Figures for the 72 English Football League clubs revealed 25 per cent of players across the Championship, League One and League Two do not intend to have a Covid-19 jab.

A series of coronavirus outbreaks has led to the postponement of a host of fixtures across England’s top four divisions this weekend, including Saints’ Premier League clash with depleted Brentford.

Almost every member of Hasenhuttl’s squad has been vaccinated and the south coast club has so far been relatively untroubled by the virus, prompting the Austrian to praise the mindsets of his players.

“It is too high a percentage in my opinion,” he replied, when asked about the EFL figures.

“I can only speak about our club, and we have a nearly 100 per cent vaccination rate. This is all we can do.

“I do not know if this is the reason that we have no cases here, but I am very happy we have a different mindset. I feel safer in an environment like this.

“We have done a lot of talking, a lot of convincing and in the end, it is about the players having an open mind.

“If you want to play in this club you need to have an open mind and this is always helpful because you get some other information about what you want to do or what you should do.

“We do not have one case at the moment and hopefully it will stay like this.

“All we have done so far has helped us to stay safe.”