JACK Stephens admitted he knew this season was his "last chance" at Saints – but is now setting his sights on a permanent spot at centre-back after taking his big opportunity.

The 23-year-old had spent time out on loan at Swindon, Middlesbrough and Coventry and, last summer, his St Mary's dream looked to be hanging by a thread, writes Peter Howard.

"In pre-season I did feel like this was my last chance to really show what I can do at this football club," he said.

"Obviously with the new manager coming in he did say to me that there's a lot of things I need to work on to be able to play in his team.

"I went away to do that and I feel like I've improved and I'm grateful for the chance I'm getting."

The Cornishman made his Saints debut in an FA Cup game in 2012, but had to wait nearly five years for his second appearance, which came at right-back in the EFL Cup win over Sunderland back in October.

Stephens followed that up with a decent display at Everton at the beginning of the year as an early substitute for Cedric Soares, before proving himself at central defence in the FA Cup against Norwich.

Then, with Jose Fonte departing in January and Virgil van Dijk suffering a long-term foot ligament injury, Saints boss Claude Puel threw the England Under-21 international in at the deep end.

He has since kept his place next to Maya Yoshida at the heart of Saints' backline for 12 successive games, keeping experienced defender Martin Caceres, the former Barcelona and Juventus man who arrived as a free agent in February, out of the team.

Stephens is now planning on keeping his place for good.

"It's definitely my aim," he said. "It's going to be very difficult, of course, because we've got some very good players here and I'm sure there will be a few arrivals in the summer.

"But it's up to me to perform as best as I can and keep improving and try to keep my place in the team."

So how does he become a permanent fixture at the back for Saints?

"By showing signs of development, showing signs of learning and I think being a consistent performer in the team," he said.

"Nobody wants a player who is up and down in consistencies levels, especially as defenders we need to be solid every week and I'm really working hard to get to that."

He added: "I knew at the start of the season that it was going to be hard for me to breakthrough and get game time.

"But the manager said if I'm patient, work hard at my game, then I'll get opportunities.

"It's fair to say I've had more opportunities than I expected, but I feel like I'm doing myself justice now and I've earned myself chances to play in the team."

Stephens believes that he and Yoshida are developing into a trustworthy partnership at the back.

"Maya and I have become stronger as a unit and that comes from playing games and being used to being next to each other and learning each other's games," he said.

"The only way you can do that is playing games next to each other.

"We were disappointed to concede against Manchester City (in the 3-0 defeat), especially after having been on a run in which we kept two clean sheets in three games.

"That was disappointing and we spoke about it after the game ... it's something we don't want to happen again.

"We feel stronger, there's a bond between me and Maya and hopefully we can continue that."

Injured captain Van Dijk has also taken Stephens under his wing, taking time out from his recovery from injury to help the rookie defender.

"Virgil's been fantastic to me all season, even when he was playing next to Jose Fonte they were both very helpful towards me and helped me in improving as a player," he said.

"Since his unfortunate injury he's been great and we speak after games. He'll send me a text if he's watched the game.

"It's nice to have someone of his quality to look up to and help me improve."

Puel has not only given Stephens, who arrived from Plymouth Argyle in 2011, his chance this season, with fellow academy men Sam McQueen and Josh Sims also making an impact.

The Torpoint-born defender admits having a manager who is willing to put faith in youth is very positive for the club.

"It's great for young players because you can see there's light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

"Sometimes you're working so hard and you feel like you're not getting anywhere, but you can look at other players who have broken through and you can see there will be opportunities if you work hard and are ready for them.

"It's important for all the young players at the club to be able to see us coming into the first team ... it gives everyone hope."

Stephens revealed that he feels like he's really flourishing in his new prominent role after initially feeling a bit off pace.

"When you first come into the team there are little mistakes," he said. "No matter how fit you feel you're going to be rusty when you come into the team having not played for so long.

"The more games you play the more familiar you become with your surroundings and I've felt more comfortable in the last four or five weeks and hopefully I can keep building my performances."

He continued: "There's going to be times when you have a bad game or you don't feel like you've had a full impact on the game, but I've been fairly happy with my performances.

"When I first came into the team at centre-back there were a couple of little errors which I was disappointed with because I set high standards for myself.

"It's something I take pride in that I want to be the best I can be and I feel like I'm improving now."

Stephens doesn't plan to dwell too much on any of his performances this term.

"There's not much time to think about it because there's plenty of games and especially in the next four or five weeks we've got a lot of tough games, so there's not a lot of time to reflect on how I've been doing," he explained.

"I'll save that for the end of the season."