Saints face some tough decisions when they sit down and start to talk about the January transfer window.

There has been an expectation behind the scenes that they will probably not do too much, if anything at all, when the window reopens at the start of next year.

Most of the money the club received for transfers in the summer has either been spent on new players, allocated for next summer to buy those currently on loan, cover the payments remaining on past transfers or help towards funding the training ground.

However, there is increasing pressure to put that under review.

Ronald Koeman has been saying for some time that the major problem he might have when it comes to keeping his side up around the top four this season is the depth of his squad.

He is not worried about his first team, which includes the starting XI and a handful of players that can slot seamlessly in if required.

It’s that when things get really challenging, when injuries and suspensions bite, there is not too much below the surface.

Furthermore, and one thing that has scarcely been mentioned, is that if the form of a player or two dips, in some positions it is almost impossible to take them out of the firing line for a game or two.

Compare that with the sides who are also competing for a top-four slot. They are established giants who, though generally having European football to also contend with, have huge squads packed full of international class players.

It makes chopping and changing when required a much simpler task for their respective managers.

If Saints are to compete at that level, they either need the most remarkable turn of fortune – to keep everybody fit, available and on form – or they need to add more depth.

Everything Saints have done in the transfer market in the last six months or so, led superbly by Les Reed and Gareth Rogers, has been measured and calculated.

They should stick by that principle.

It could be counterproductive to use the rationale that they must seize on this great start and start signing heaps of players in a blind panic to try and bag a top-four spot while they have the chance.

Too many players could upset the balance, and the club is being run on a sensible financial footing.

However, if finances allow, they could do with additions in one or two key areas, even if they are on-loan to help out rather than forking out for costly star names aiming to dislodge those who have done so well.

There are a few positions you can put to one side – goalkeeper, centre half, even central midfield, as to have Morgan Schneiderlin, Jack Cork and James Ward-Prowse all unavailable at the same time last Sunday was terrible luck which you cannot really account for.

But when you look a little further forward, you do start to worry.

At this moment in time, you effectively have five players – Graziano Pelle, Shane Long, Sadio Mane, Steven Davis and Dusan Tadic – to cover four positions.

Hopefully Jay Rodriguez will come back and help this situation, but it’s not fair to pile too much expectation on him so soon after such a long time out.

Ward-Prowse will also be a welcome addition once he returns to action.

But then you have to take into account that Mane, and seldom used cover player Emmanuel Mayuka, will go away for a month for the Africa Cup of Nations early next year.

It’s that lack of opportunity for Koeman to easily cover an absence, and without changing the style of play, or to be able to leave out a player who is struggling for form, that is worrying.

It is a tough balancing act for Saints but, realistically, if they are to achieve a European finish in the league this season, they will likely require a little more depth than they have now.

If not, then they are still are miles ahead of where they would have expected to be this season.

But to expect, rather than hope, for such a fantastic finishing position is a little unfair on all concerned.

Tricky decisions lie ahead.