Morgan Schneiderlin has been praised for his exemplary attitude after scoring twice in Saints’ 3-1 win over West Ham.

The French midfielder had cut a frustrated figure as his desire to follow many of his former teammates out of the St Mary’s exit door was denied by the club.

Schneiderlin had been keen to reunite with former Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham but, with just hours left until the close of the transfer window, Koeman said he remains 99 per cent confident that Schneiderlin will still be a Saints player tomorrow morning.

And Koeman was keen to praise the attitude of his midfield star who has knuckled down again after accepting the club’s position.

“In the beginning it was difficult for Morgan and that was why he didn’t play against Leverkusen in the last friendly,” he said.

“I said ‘I understand it’s a difficult situation for you, come back Monday and we start like before.’ “I am very pleased not only today but today because he scored twice and that’s always more attention to the player but he played fantastic in the control position.

“He’s an important player for the team and has had a great attitude in the last few weeks.

“He accepted his situation how it is because if you can’t accept that you can’t reach the level he showed.”

He added: “I understand his situation.

“Always players have something in their mind and if they get offers from big clubs I understand that but you sign a contract and then you have to accept your situation.

“You see he’s happy now and in the future there will come changes for him because he’s a fantastic player.”

Schneiderlin bagged two of the goals for Saints at Upton Park with Graziano Pelle opening his Premier League account with the other.

“We know it’s more difficult because the Premier League the defenders are very strong, tall people defending good and it’s not easy to score,” said Koeman of Pelle.

“He had a good second half and it’s a pity because I heard it wasn’t offside the goal he scored but he did score.

“Strikers are always happy if the team are winning but if they don’t score they are always nervous and it gave him and the team a good feeling today.”