Southampton have denied a training session at Rod Stewart's house was responsible for the team's late arrival for Monday's match at West Ham.

Gordon Strachan's team arrived at Upton Park for the Premiership fixture just 30 minutes before the match was due to start.

But the club are adamant that heavy traffic is the sole reason for their late arrival.

The traffic was horrendous and if the police had not come we would not have made it Gordon Strachan

"There has been a lot of rubbish written and spoken about it which makes it look as though we were unprofessional," said Strachan.

"We did exactly what was recommended to us.

The players trained on the private pitch at Stewart's home on Monday morning.

But they then prepared as normal, with an afternoon sleep and a pre-match meal before leaving their hotel for the expected 25-minute journey two hours before kick-off.

"We came up the day before the game and stayed at the Marriot Hotel at Waltham Abbey which was recommended by West Ham," said the Saints boss.

"It was just a few minutes from Rod Stewart's house which has its own football pitch.

"I have trained there before with Leeds and Coventry and it is ideal because it is the nearest facility to the hotel and it is entirely private."

At one point the coach taking the players to Upton Park stood motionless in a slip road for 20 minutes and the club eventually phoned for a police escort.

"The traffic was horrendous and if the police had not come to get us then we would not have made it at all," said Strachan.

"We put a Billy Connolly video to give everyone a laugh and make sure the players did not get stressed because we just were not moving."

Saints avoided a fine by getting chairman Rupert Lowe to hand their team sheet in time.