THE VERDICT: The final word on Southampton's 0-0 draw with Burnley

After all the hype, all the build-up and all the talk, the real stuff final got underway and we got a glimpse of Saints under Mark Hughes.

It started in an underwhelming fashion, but improved hugely as the game went on, to a point where fans filed out of St Mary’s with a renewed sense of optimism, albeit cautious optimism.

Saints have worked on playing with three centre halves this summer, splashed out £18m on a player to help them do it and spent all but the last few hours until the transfer window closed playing down the need for a new striker.

In the end it was a mid-game switch to a back four and the introduction of the very latest of deadline day striking signings in Danny Ings that made all the difference and injected more hope into everyone.

Perhaps we should have expected this game to have the kind of momentum shifts it did. After all, Burnley’s Europa League travails have made them match sharp for the very start, but inevitably set to tire after a Thursday night trip to Istanbul.

Hughes did pull a bit of a surprise with his team selection.

After a summer of experimentation and what seemed a desire to get two strikers in to the side, Saints started looking much more like the team they were last season, both in terms of personnel and style.

It didn’t work, but the reason to be positive under Hughes is that he identified it and changed things.

Saints have seen managers too stubborn to admit that, instead sticking with it and trying to force it to happen even when all evidence suggests that it won’t.

Hughes is a much more balanced manager than that it seems.

It was his decision to shake it up on 56 minutes that turned the tide.

Alright, a goalless draw was a result that Burnley went home happy with while Saints had to settle for it.

And given their fixture schedule Saints really need a fast start, and an away game to Everton second up now has potentially a little more pressure on it than ideally it would have had.

But there were plenty of positives to draw from the opening day, and sometimes that is enough, especially in this instance given what everybody was forced to endure last season.

The first half started in a rather worrying fashion for Saints who found themselves lacking a little intensity in the face of a match sharp team, pinned back and sitting deep against a Burnley side who were dominating.

But for some last ditch Saints heroics, questionable officiating and some average play in the final third from the Clarets they would have been behind at the break.

Jack Cork thought he had given Burnley the lead after just seven minutes as he curled the ball into the far corner but the flag was up for what replays suggested was a highly debatable offside call.

A simple ball over the top and a poor defensive header four minutes later set Aaron Lennon in behind but Alex McCarthy did brilliantly to read the danger early, get off his line and smother the shot with a great save.

McCarthy also came to the rescue to block with his legs at the near post as Jeff Hendrick directed a downward header on target.

For Saints, who thankfully grew into the half and got better as it went on and Stuart Armstrong dropped deeper, there was a couple of chances in the first period.

Mario Lemina met Ryan Bertrand’s left wing cross with a glancing near post header which Joe Hart turned over the bar while Jannik Vestergaard won a header from a corner that he directed over from just outside the six yard box.

The second period started with Burnley on top again as Jack Stephens blocked from Johann Berg Gudmundsson while Stephen Ward’s volley was straight at McCarthy.

However, the whole feel of the game changed on 56 minutes as Hughes shook things up.

He made a double substitution and tore up the Saints formation, introducing new signing Danny Ings, whose added mobility up front caused Burnley problems, while the whole side looked far more comfortable with a back four.

Suddenly it was Burnley who were the ones hanging on.

Ashley Westwood had to clear off the line from a misdirected header from his own teammate Ben Mee, Ings , who also had a late penalty shout turned down, curled a shot just wide and Lemina’s effort back across goal was bravely blocked.

Hart, meanwhile, was forced into saves from Stephens at the far post and Lemina’s flicked header.

In the end Saints had to make do with a draw and getting a point on the board to open their campaign. They can at least pick out a raft of positives and move forward.

It will be very interesting to see how, or, indeed, if, their plans changed given the presence of Ings and how much better they looked with a back four.

Either way there are options and that is always a good thing.