Saints calm ahead of Fulham clash

Excitement is starting to build around the club after a brilliant beginning to the campaign, including a 1-1 draw at Manchester United in the last match.

Expectations are high ahead of a game against Fulham at St Mary's on Saturday with a win set to return Saints to the top four but Pochettino is keeping feet firmly on the ground.

"The mood around the camp is calm," he said.

"The players are very relaxed and calm after going to a difficult place like Old Trafford and getting a draw. That was a very positive result.

"They enjoyed after the game as they would but I enjoy it more when we win than when we draw."

Fulham got a good result against Crystal Palace on Monday night but Pochettino says that will have no bearing on how Saints approach the game.

"It doesn’t really change anything. We always have maximum 100 per cent respect for our opponents," said the Saints boss.

"We know that Fulham are a very good side and have very talented players.

"Also that their position in the league table is not realistic of how they were doing up until they won that game against Crystal Palace.

"We know that it is going to be tough playing against them and we are going to have to work very hard to get a positive result from this game.

"We need to work very hard to get a result from this game."

Saints have won plenty of plaudits for their style of play and Pochettino commented: "We have a certain philosophy of football here we try to defend very high up the pitch, taking a lot of risks.

"To have the ball as far away as possible from our goal is how we feel positive about how we play, is how we feel safest.

"The higher up the pitch that all the lines of my players play the better we are in terms of how we want to execute our football philosophy.

"That entails taking risks but we are working on trying to manage them as well.

"It’s all down to the great performance of the players who are executing very well that philosophy of how we want to play."