It was so near and yet so far for Saints in the EFL Cup final.

A brave performance couldn’t quite get them over the line as they suffered a gut-wrenching defeat against Manchester United at Wembley.

The game had become the focus of the season, with European football at stake after the group stage elimination last year.

Saints may be stuck in midtable in the Premier League, but still have virtually three months of the campaign left to play.

Here the Daily Echo takes a look at five things to consider as the rest of the season unwinds.

Motivation

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Claude Puel is going to be picking up his players after the defeat at Wembley and getting them focussed on really pushing ahead for the remainder of the season.

The supporters will no doubt feel the same. After the high of coming so close to finally ending a 41 year wait for major silverware, to get motivated for 13 Premier League games with seemingly little to play for will be a challenge.

If there is apathy in the stands, if attendances do dip a little at St Mary’s, then it would be somewhat understandable. Some people come and back their side no matter what, others pay for excitement and entertainment.

For the players this is their job and their career, but simply saying that doesn’t necessarily make it easy to really put themselves on the line when they are deflated and don’t have a clear target to aim for.

A quick look at the Premier League table suggests that Saints will do well to finish higher than ninth. Certainly seventh, and the chance of European qualification, looks almost out of the question, as is relegation.

So just how, exactly, do you keep some momentum in the season? The race for ninth doesn’t exactly having a thrilling ring to it.

The last thing you want as a club and a manager is a sense of drift.

Puel proving himself

The manager has been the subject of a lot of questions in his first season in charge.

There have been extenuating circumstances behind some of his decisions – for example, the much criticised rotation policy which was brought about by a first half of the season that was pretty much constant fixture chaos.

The sheer volume of games also meant it was hard for Puel to have the chance to work with his players on the training ground and really get his ideas and methods put into practise.

He has eventually gone back to the 4-2-3-1 formation, but whether he sticks with that now will be interesting.

Without such a heavy fixture burden for much of the rest of the campaign, Puel now has no excuses.

He can play his first choice team in pretty much every game, doesn’t need to tinker and has a lot of time to work with his squad on the training ground.

This is a chance to really prove himself and get fans behind him ahead of the summer.

Centre halves

What will see from Martin Caceres?

The signing of the Uruguayan seemed to make perfect sense when it initially looked as though he would be available for the Premier League game at Sunderland to give himself the chance to bed in ahead of marking Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Wembley.

As it turned out Caceres was only able to join just over a week before the EFL Cup final, and, therefore, was never going to be able to start the game.

If you are being totally honest about it, then his signing did seem like something of a panic buy, a reaction to the fact Saints didn’t manage to bring in a higher priority target during the January window.

When they moved for Caceres they had lost to West Ham, and there was a sense the wheels were starting to come off a little just ahead of the big day at Wembley.

But a 4-0 win over Sunderland and then a creditable performance against United make his appearance on the scene seem a little less vital and possibly not worth the rumoured cash being forked out.

He is around for the remainder of the season, which will be vital in terms of the centre half transfer policy in the summer.

Caceres will be playing for a new contract, either at Saints or elsewhere, while Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens want to be considered as first choice for the future, and not just because of the recent emergency circumstances.

Goal machine Gabbiadini

The £14m January signing has been in blistering form since joining Saints from Napoli.

Gabbiadini’s track record didn’t suggest that he would be a particularly prolific goalscorer, but how wrong that has proved early on.

Five goals in his first three games – including two at Wembley – have already earned him a place in Saints folklore no matter what happens from now on.

All eyes will be Gabbiadini to see just many he can plunder before the end of the season.

There have already been some fans suggesting, hopefully half in jest, though possibly scarred by recent summers, that if he keeps up his current form Saints could end up having to deal with bids for him as soon as this summer.

While that seems an unlikely prospect, it will be interesting to see whether this is a honeymoon period for the striker or whether Saints have landed a very special goalscorer indeed.

Transfer targets

When looking for the next significant milestone for the club, your mind cannot help but walk forward to the summer transfer window.

As ever it will be an interesting affair. Virgil van Dijk’s injury has quietened down the speculation over his future.

If he doesn’t return before the end of this season it might actually help Saints. Then again, a fair few clubs might still start to throw £50m down and really test the resolve at St Mary’s.

There are a few players, especially some of what were once the youngsters who have now aged up a bit, with a bit to prove ahead of this summer as well if they are to be in contention next season.

Certainly without the demands of European football next season Saints are not going to need quite as much depth to their squad.

Puel will be looking closely as he starts to plot what areas to strengthen and it won’t be too long until the feelers start to go out to try and ensure targets are brought in.