By Peter Hall

MANCHESTER, England, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim insisted he must be careful not to lavish Amad Diallo with too much praise after the Ivorian forward's late hat-trick earned his struggling team a 3-1 victory over Southampton on Thursday.

United were largely second best against bottom of the table Southampton, falling behind in the first half to a Manuel Ugarte own goal as the hosts looked to be heading for a fourth successive home league loss.

Diallo, however, single-handedly dragged his side to a much-needed success, becoming the second youngest United player to score a Premier League hat-trick after Wayne Rooney, with three goals in the final 10 minutes to earn his side victory.

"The important thing is to win and he helped us and then he is doing a very good season," Amorim said of Diallo. "But you have to be careful with the young kids. Congratulations to him, enjoy tonight and he needs to appreciate these moments.

"I will tell him tomorrow he has to rest, eat good food because Sunday we need him again. He did a great job, a good moment for a young kid to score a hat-trick for a club like this."

Amorim did accept some of the blame for another poor display from his team who remain languishing in 12th in the standings, conceding recent battling performances at Liverpool and Arsenal took their toll.

"I have big expectations for all, trying to be really demanding and I also understand when they try it and cannot do it," he added.

"The pressure of playing at home is harder than playing away. The demands of controlling all the game against this opponent is harder.

"I need to improve the training and recovery of the players. We are tired, not just the body but the mind. It is a different game, we have to press more. If we don't manage the ball for so long, we suffer."

(Reporting by Peter HallEditing by Christian Radnedge)

((p.hall@thomsonreuters.com;))