CLAUDE Puel is set to continue with his wholesale squad changes tomorrow night as Saints visit Hapoel Beer Sheva in the Europa League.

The St Mary’s chief is certainly making the most of his entire squad after naming a different starting eleven in each of his eight matches in charge so far.

He has made an extraordinary 30 changes in the last four games, which is a remarkable change from any of his predecessors.

Mauricio Pochettino was known to swap players around for cup games, but nothing on this scale.

And that theme is fully expected to continue when Saints take on Israeli champions Hapoel at the Turner Stadium, with Puel looking for his fifth straight victory in all competitions.

The Frenchman has always maintained that he plans to keep his team fresh by chopping and changing in the majority of matches.

With the current punishing run of fixtures, Puel has made the most of his options.

He brought in the likes of Cuco Martina, Matt Targett and Maya Yoshida for the Sparta Prague triumph two weeks ago and has also given youngster Jake Hesketh and Harrison Reed a chance in the EFL Cup victory over Crystal Palace.

The likes of Dusan Tadic, Oriol Romeu, Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster have appeared in the majority of matches, but Puel has still rested them, giving each of his squad the chance to recover. 

The new boss is, so far,  successfully maintaining  the balance of the team, even with the high turnover of players coming in and out the team from game to game. 

That has taken careful squad management.

And it is thought that he’ll continue to do that tomorrow with another game at Leicester City in the Premier League fast approaching on Sunday. 

While there is a risk that the constant changes could upset the harmony of the team, Puel is managing to keep up Saints’ momentum while also resting players. 

Midfielder Steven Davis has stated that it is actually helping the team and said that it keeps the players on their toes, making sure they do not get comfortable in a starting position. 

Puel started slowly with his tinkering, making just two changes at Manchester United, one against Sunderland and three against Arsenal during the early stages of the season. 

But, with games coming thick and fast, he is now upping those levels.

For Saints’ opening Europa League match against Sparta, Puel made seven changes.

He then made six against Swansea, eight against Palace in the League Cup third-round and then NINE at West Ham on Sunday. 

All this chopping and changing does mean that the likes of Shane Long, Jordy Clasie and James Ward-Prowse come into the Hapoel match fresh after starting on the bench against the Hammers.

He may well commit to swapping the defence around too, with Martina, Targett and Yoshida rested and ready.