SAINTS chief executive Martin Semmens believes the club feels “strong and ready to go” ahead of the 2020-21 Premier League campaign.

The St Mary’s side head into the new season at Crystal Palace on Saturday (3pm) looking carry on the momentum they built as one of the stand-out sides during Project Restart, following the coronavirus lockdown.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men were unbeaten in their final seven games of last campaign, winning four of those contests and drawing three to finish 11th in the table.

And with just 49 days separating the victory over Sheffield United to end last season, with their next competitive challenge at Palace, Semmens believes Saints will be ready to go again.

Asked how well set the squad and the club were for the new season, Semmens told BBC Radio Solent: “I think we are ready. We built a plan through lockdown that seemed to suit us and everybody executed that really well and we did well in the games in July.

“I think the key thing for us is we didn’t really go into a pre-season. We had a short break and then just continued our work and tried to make sure that momentum keeps building.

“I think we feel in a strong position going in. I was luckily enough to see the game last week (against Swansea) when the first team played together for 60 minutes and did well.

“They looked confident, they looked strong, they looked fit. I think having a few away on international duty is not ideal for anybody and nobody likes that.

“But everybody’s together and ready to go and I think we feel strong and ready to go at the beginning of the season.”

Saints acted quickly to add right-back Kyle Walker-Peters to their ranks over the summer, following a successful loan spell from Tottenham.

They also snapped up Ghanaian centre-half Mohammed Salisu from La Liga outfit Real Valladolid.

And while he did not rule out doing more potential business with the transfer window set to shut in October, club chief Semmens was happy to secure arrivals in quick fashion.

“On the transfer market, we made a clear decision early to move early and bring in the players that Ralph needed,” he added.

“We brought Kyle in at right-back and then Salisu to replace Maya (Yoshida) and Kevin (Danso) at centre-back. That was really done for a clear reason.

“We felt we were on to something with a winning team and a winning bunch of people that were beginning to perform really well on the pitch.

“We felt strongly that those people deserved the chance to start next season and continue that winning streak.

“That was our first strategy and then the second part is how do we now adapt to this changing market?

“We don’t ever really know how that’s going to play out but our overall arching feeling now is as it’s extended beyond the start of the season towards the end of the window, things will change quite rapidly.

“Opportunities to bring in players at a reasonable price and certain players that may not be available in a normal market might come up.

“The best thing I can say is we’ve got what we need to be okay and to have a great team going into the season.

“If an opportunity arrives towards the end of the window that is a one-off unique opportunity, then we would certainly look to take that, I think.”

Saints host Tottenham Hotspur in their first Premier League home contest on Sunday, September 20.