Mauricio Pellegrino has assured Saints fans he will not be treating his side’s first League Cup tie since Wembley as a “training session.”

The Saints boss will get his first taste of the newly rebranded Carabao Cup tonight as he welcomes Championship promotion hopefuls Wolves to St Mary’s.

Saints made it all the way to the final last season before an unfortunate 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at Wembley.

There has been a tendency for Premier League managers to use the competition as a chance to field a reserve team.

Though Pellegrino clearly hasn’t made a final decision on his starting line-up, he promised it will be competitive.

He said: “I will think about it but for me the most important is to put out the best players to win the game and not use it as a training session.

“I will analyse and I don’t know who will play.

“I will try to use the best players who I think will be more ready to play.”

While the Premier League is likely to be viewed as the top priority for Saints this season, the lack of European football means a domestic cup run would be even more welcome.

Pellegrino has to juggle those demands, and weigh up whether it is worth risking the team that started against West Ham or to play his fringe players, with the club having two strong options for every position.

“We have to start for the first step and it’s the only thing we have right now,” reflected Pellegrino.

“The first game will be very difficult.

“Wolves is a tough team with good players, good performances and in a good way.

“Every single game here in England is difficult and we have to do our best to pass to the second step.”