Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino is expecting tomorrow’s opponents, Norwich, to pose a similar challenge to the one that Crystal Palace did last week.

Pochettino’s side won 1-0 at Selhurst Park and are now hoping to follow that up with a victory at St Mary’s this weekend.

"I think it is going to be a very tough game against Norwich tomorrow.” Pochettino said.

"They are physically a very strong side and I think it will be a similar game to the one we played at Crystal Palace.

“We competed very well and I thought that was a very good lesson for us, to be able to compete in such a manner in such a difficult stadium.

“There were many positives we gathered from that game and, tomorrow, we just want to replicate that against Norwich."

Pochettino also marked out Saints’ immediate ambitions, as they enter the last nine games of the season.

"Right now we're in ninth position in the table, we want to be eighth,” he said. “That is basically our goal at the moment.”

Pochettino, whose side still have to play the four teams directly above them, added: “We always want to be climbing positions and tomorrow is an important game to do that.

“We want to win points as much as we can, want to climb positions as much as we can from here on to the end of the season.

“To be in the top 10 teams I think is a very good growth for this team, and a very important thing for this football club.”