RYAN Bertrand revealed his desire to extend his contract at Saints, insisting: “It would be great to be part of this club for the long haul.”

The defender joined the south coast side from Chelsea, initially on loan in 2014, before making his move permanent the following year for £10million.

He signed a new five-year extension to his deal in 2016, which is due to expire at the end of this season.

And the 31-year-old, who has played more than 200 games for Saints, is hoping fresh terms can be agreed soon.

Bertrand told the Daily Echo: “Definitely, I want to stay. That’s my thought process.

“I see myself staying here and it would be great to be part of this club for the long haul.

“I’ve been here so long. I have still got plenty of years left in me. And to go beyond that and possibly work for the club even after football.

“I’m fully focussed on hopefully extending my contract here.”

Asked how close a new deal was to being agreed, Bertrand added: “I don’t think it’s too far away.

“It’s in the club’s hands, to be honest.”

Quizzed on Bertrand's contract situation earlier this month, boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said: "We are in negotiations with a lot of players now.

"We show them that we want them but we must be strong to stay in our (financial) limits. This is important for our future and that we have a healthy one.

"Whoever wants to follow us is invited and the rest are not ours."

Bertrand, who has 19 senior caps for England, has been a near ever-present for Saints this season.

Aside from missing the final 11 minutes of November’s win against Aston Villa, as well as the subsequent match due to the same hamstring injury, the left-back has played every minute under Ralph Hasenhuttl this term.

That included Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City – just a fourth Premier League loss so far for Saints, who sit among the top seven of the table.

Raheem Sterling’s early goal was all that separated the sides, while Saints also saw top scorer Danny Ings forced off through injury in the first half.

Looking back at the game, Bertrand said: “We just missed that final edge possibly in the second half to create that last opportunity to perhaps get a goal.

“Our cutting edge wasn’t really there in the second half, so we couldn’t really push on to get that goal. Obviously, missing Ingsy for the second half is a big miss.

“But we felt more in the game in this game, than we did last time when we beat them, so it was a bit disappointing.”

The narrow loss to City came just three days after Saints drew 1-1 with Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, having led through a Theo Walcott goal.

“I think at Arsenal we were disappointed for all the right reasons, that’s the big difference,” said Bertrand.

“The Arsenal game we fully deserved to win and should have put them away.

“There are many teams that play against Man City that just camp it out, concede possession and try to hit them on the counter.

“We were a bit more defensive last time we played them but I think this time we showed our development. With the ball, without the ball, we were more than comfortable.

“We had a lot of possession, played some good stuff but we just missed that cutting edge.”

The Southwark-born ace added: “There is always that respect factor where we are not silly – but we are definitely a lot more developed on our journey and we can put some passes together and play good football, while getting results.”