FORWARD Nathan Tella remained tight-lipped on his future following Southampton’s 2-1 win to open the Championship season at Sheffield Wednesday, insisting: “I’m just focusing on the next game.”

The 24 year old was credited with his first assist of the campaign after his left-footed strike brushed Adam Armstrong on the way in to give Saints an early lead.

Tella’s immediate impact on his return to Saints after winning the Championship with Burnley last campaign came following a week of heightened speculation.

Burnley chairman Alan Pace shared a TikTok created and posted by his daughter titled ‘Free Nathan Tella’ – which featured pictures of their former loanee scattered all around Turf Moor.

Asked if Saints fans can expect him to stay at St Mary’s this season, Tella told Sky Sports: "Honestly, I’m just focusing on the next game. I just want to take it game by game and see what happens.”

Reflecting on their opening evening fixture, and his goal instead going down as an assist, Tella added: “It’s fine, it’s part of my stats – first game back in the Championship and first assist so hopefully I’ll keep going like that.

“I was trying to find Joe Aribo but since I saw the manager I had to go over to him. Since he has come in, he has given all of us a lot of confidence.

“It was a disappointing season last season but we have put all of that aside since he has come in and we can just focus on a brand new season.”

Tella continued: “I think we knew even at half-time that they (Wednesday) would try and get a corner or a throw-in and psych their fans up – they did and they’re obviously good at them.

“Us not dealing with it properly is something we have to address for the following game when we come back into training on Sunday.”

Saints are back in action in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, August 8, with a visit to League Two Gillingham – before the first home match of the league season against Norwich on Saturday.