Saints are on course for their finest defensive season of the post-war era – and their best in nearly a century.

Saturday’s 2-0 win over Burnley marked the club’s 14th clean sheet of the current campaign, while also lowering the average number of goals they have conceded to just 0.70 per game.

It is almost certain to be the greatest defensive season they have ever experienced in the top-flight of English football.

In Europe’s major leagues, only Bayern Munich, Juventus and Barcelona, who are all in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, currently boast a better record.

Not since 1921/22, when Saints were in the old Division Three South, have the club enjoyed a better season at the back.

Ronald Koeman’s men currently boast the best defensive record in the Premier League – and have done for most of the campaign.

Club captain Kelvin Davis, who replaced injured keeper Fraser Forster in the win over Burnley, insists it will mean a huge amount if they can finish the season with that title.

“It would, and it helps us get to where we want to be,” he said.

“We’ve been up in amongst it all season.

“We’ve said it really, we don’t want this season to fizzle out in any way and we are still in a good position to still push on.”

The greatest number of clean sheets the club have ever had in a single top-flight season is 18.

That was achieved twice, in 1970/71, when Eric Martin was in goal, and in 1983/84, when Peter Shilton was the keeper, although both came in 42-game campaigns.

The highest number in any post-war season was the 20 achieved in the 2010/11 promotion from League One, when Davis was the stopper, although the club had 46 matches to pick up those.

Only four times in that period have Saints averaged less than a goal conceded per game – with the best being the 0.83 in that 2010/11 campaign.

During their entire history, Saints’ best ever defensive season was in 1921/22.

Then, they achieved 26 clean sheets and averaged just 0.50 goals against them per game, as they won promotion to the old division two.