Saints technical director Martin Hunter is keeping his under 21s grounded after a great week

In the space of four days Hunter’s side booked themselves a quarter-final in the U21 Premier League Cup after beating Norwich 2-0, and went top of the U21 Premier League with a 2-1 win at Fulham on Monday.

But while he is pleased with his side’s progress, which has seen them unbeaten since the end of September, Hunter is keen to ensure that none of them get carried away.

When asked if he’s keen to keep up their run of form, he said: “I don’t look at it like that.

“You work on a weekly basis and that’s what we try and do. It’s important we keep the players grounded here.

“We work hard and prepare for each game and we’ll continue to do that.”

On having two games in week, which is rare at under 21 level, he said: “We like busy weeks.

"The whole thing of getting the players ready to play games, we don’t want good trainers, we want good trainers and players that perform for this football club when it matters here at the stadium or wherever we play.

“There’s a few tired legs, I don’t think they’ll sleep well tonight (Thursday night).”

Sam McQueen and Ryan Seager were on target in an impressive display against the Canaries at St Mary’s in their last 16 match.

“The players want to win,” he said. “They want to be in the team, so when you’re in the quarter-final of a cup that’s an achievement.

“You don’t get many chances in your career to do that. So we want to make the best of it, we want to go as far as we can go in the cup.

“It’s good for their development and their maturity.

“That’s a part of what of what we do.”

Saints took the lead on 21 minutes, which saw Seager net his ninth goal of the campaign after capping off a classy move by McQueen and Jake Sinclair, who has just returned from a loan spell at Scottish side Hibernian.

They were control from then on in.

“I think it was a bit stop and start,” said Hunter. “I don’t think we played well in the first 20 minutes of the first half but then gathered a bit of momentum.

“In the second half we were more cohesive, created lots of chances. We could have had five or six goals if we’d have been more clinical so that, together with a clean sheet, is very pleasing.

“We sorted a couple of things out at half time. I asked the players to do certain things in a different way in terms of making the pitch bigger and the tempo we passed at.

“They took that on board and executed it.”

McQueen, who made his first team debut under Mauricio Pochettino last term, took his goal – with nine minutes left to play – with great composure.

And Hunter was keen to highlight the team performance, including Marcus Barnes, Calum Slattery and Harley Willard, who all came on as late subs.

“The whole team performed well,” he said. “Even the subs that came on late doors did a job for us.

“It’s important that they understand that, when you’re trying to run the clock down. It’s not easy when you’re coming on for three or four minutes but they all did well.”

Hunter dispersed fears that Cody Cropper, the usual first choice stopper who was injured against the Cottagers on Monday, had suffered a bad injury.

“He’s got concussion,” he said. “He needs to rest, he’s not going to need an operation – we’re all thankful for that.

“He was here tonight in the dressing room and all the players and the staff are pleased he’s on the road to recovery.”

Hunter was keen to praise stand-in stopper Will Britt’s performance, which saw him pull-off a couple of good saves.

“He stepped in,” he said. “The opportunity which came about unfortunately because of Cody’s injury means that he is out of action for a few weeks.

“That’s what happens at any level of football, injuries happen, loss of form – then you’ve got to take your chance when it comes and Will’s done well in the last two games.”