Claude Puel has urged his team to focus purely on playing the League Cup final tomorrow and not on what winning might mean.

With the constant mentions of the club’s finest hour in 1976, and the talk of players writing themselves into legend, it could be easy to get swept up with dreams of lifting the trophy.

However, Puel, ever the pragmatist, is trying to keep feet firmly on the ground and banish all talk of what victory would mean, and instead focus on the process of beating Manchester United at Wembley.

He said: “Of course it is a great moment for the fans and I hope we can give them pleasure and joy to see this game.

“I know the last time Southampton can win a cup was in 1976 against Manchester. It’s a long time and it will be fantastic to take a good result.

“I think it’s important and I can understand of course all the good atmosphere around the team and the fans, but it’s important for us to keep focussed and with a good concentration about the game and not what happens after the game.

“We have to keep the good attitude and good spirit.”

He added: “For me it is the same thing and for my staff is stay focussed about our play, the ingredients what we have to do against the team is the most important, not just to think about the result.

“Manchester is one we want to win but the most important is to keep the good concentration about the game.”

Saints have had two weeks without a fixture to prepare for the game, which included four days off and a training camp in Spain.

In the meantime, United have played three more times, but Puel admits he is unsure which is better.

“I don’t know if it will benefit because two weeks without an official game is sometimes difficult,” he confessed.

“At the beginning it is interesting to give a good day off since the beginning of the season for the team and after it is always difficult to find the good balance, the good work, to keep the good result without games.

“It is a good challenge for Sunday and we will see this on Sunday.

“Sometimes I prefer to play every three days but sometimes without a game for a week it is better.”

For Puel the final will be the last word on a good journey for Saints.

“Of course it’s important for Manchester and for us also,” he reflected.

“The most interesting is to show since the beginning of this season this story, the good philosophy of the club.

“We start this competition with young players against Sunderland, against Crystal Palace, like Arsenal. After experienced players take the other games in the semi-final against Liverpool for example.

“It’s a very good journey, interesting to see the philosophy of the club and to continue this work.”