Claude Puel has backed Nathan Redmond to become an England international, but admitted he needs to add more goals to his game.

Redmond netted twice in the 4-3 win over Watford, his first Premier League goals since October.

The 22-year-old has been a huge success for the England under-21s over a sustained period of time, and has been talked about for a call-up to the full side.

Puel thinks he can make the step up, but first he needs to concentrate on continuing his improvement at Saints.

He said: “We will see. For the moment I think he can do a fantastic final against Manchester but I think he can make good progress to score many goals because he has all the qualities.

“He can become strong and a very good striker.

“For the moment he improves and I think it’s important to continue this work.

“He is a physical player because he can run a long time with quality and good feet and control.

“He can become a strong striker for the national team, but for the moment he has to continue his work and make progress.”

Redmond has widely been regarded as a top player for Saints this season following his summer move from Norwich.

It has just been goals that have been lacking with the double against Watford making it a total of six in 37 appearances in all competitions.

“It was time,” insisted Puel. “I am happy for Nathan.

“I think he doesn’t score a lot of goals and he has all the quality for this because he is very clinical in the training session with good feet and fantastic quality.

“It is not enough on the official game.

“It is important for the confidence for him and it’s important he tries because he has good feet.

“Sometimes it’s difficult because he likes to play with his partner with good assist and good control without shooting.

“I think and I hope this two goals gives him confidence for the future and we see many goals in the future.”

In amongst all the talk of how prolific Manolo Gabbiadini has been, there is an argument that the likes of Redmond and Dusan Tadic will increase their scoring tally as a result of opposition teams worrying about the Italian hitman.

“Perhaps,” suggested the Saints boss. “All the defenders could go with their concentration about Gabbiadini and all this gives opportunities for the other players.

“Long and Rodriguez and Bofual also. It’s important to have many solutions and not just one striker. It is important for more opportunities and more confidence for all the squad.”