Saints captain Jose Fonte insists the point the team earned at Chelsea will be meaningless if they do not beat Burnley on Saturday.

Ronald Koeman’s side kept themselves in the fight for Champions League qualification with a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge last Sunday.

However, Fonte is adamant it will count for nothing if they don’t follow it up with three points at St Mary’s this weekend.

“It will be a big point if we beat Burnley, I think,” said the centre-half.

“If we don’t, it’s pointless. We need to beat Burnley and then this will be a great point.”

Saints will be firm favourites to win against a Clarets team that are in the relegation zone, but it is hard to imagine any complacency creeping into the St Mary’s dressing room.

After all, Burnley triumphed 1-0 when the teams met at Turf Moor earlier in the season, while they beat Manchester City at home last weekend and have recently drawn at Chelsea themselves.

“We know how good they are and how tough they are to beat,” said Fonte.

“They defend well, they work very hard, and we know that it’s going to be a tough game, but they were lucky in the game at home, I think.

“We missed a penalty and we had good chances to score.

“We didn’t, and they had a lucky goal against us. We lost that game, but we want to put it right this time.”

With the trip to Chelsea out the way, Saints’ run-in now looks fairly appealing, but Fonte has cautioned anyone who thinks the hard work has been done.

“We have to play every team, and you say that we don’t have to play big teams, but in the Premier League every game is so hard,” he said.

“It was demonstrated the previous games when we lost at West Brom, against Swansea at home, we didn’t beat West Ham at home.

“Them kind of teams, you expect us to beat them, and we didn’t. So we expect tough games until the end.

“We know it’s going to be hard, but, obviously, we believe we can win any game until the end.”

Saints’ hopes of putting together a season-defining run are significantly boosted by Koeman having an almost fully fit squad to choose from.

Toby Alderweireld finally returned at Chelsea, after two months out with a hamstring injury, while the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin, Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane, who have all had issues since the turn of the year, are healthy.

“I think the most important is that we have the full squad back, and that brings the competition in training really high and it makes everyone to be on the front foot,” said Fonte.

“Everyone is fighting for their place to be in the team, and if you want to be in the team you have to be at your best, and I think that is demonstrated in the game.

“Like you say, everyone is back now and everyone is switched on and the rhythm is back and hopefully we can maintain this until the end.”