Mauricio Pellegrino won’t be powering up his calculator any time soon.

The Saints boss has ruled out any maths for the foreseeable future, insisting he is focussed on taking each game as it comes rather than setting a points total for his side in their bid for Premier League survival.

It also means trying to block out the FA Cup quarter-final tie at Wigan which could yield a Wembley spot.

He said: “I think we have to be 100 per cent in this game.

“I don’t like to do numbers right now when we have got an important game in front.

“It’s easy to do numbers but difficult to translate this into the pitch.

“I don’t want to do maths right now. I want to be focussed on what we have to do on the pitch. Try to help my players, support them.”

Saints travel to Burnley tomorrow seeking to build on a decent run that has seen them lose just two of their last ten matches in all competitions.

In contrast, Burnley, who defeated Saints 1-0 at St Mary’s earlier in the season, have not won in 2018.

However, Pellegrino is pretty confident he knows what to expect at Turf Moor.

“I expect a really tight game,” he admitted.

“I think they will not change too much their style, try to compete until the end.

“I think they will try to beat us in this pitch, to attack, to manage the ball, to dominate the game.

“The key will be the team stronger mentally, don’t make too many mistake and are clinical in the important moment.”

While Pellegrino is preaching the virtues of staying focussed, not looking too hard at the table, the crucial upcoming set of fixtures or the FA Cup, the hard part could be ensuring the players take that advice.

“To talk about us, overall,” he reflected when asked how he would guard against that sort of issue.

“Thinking about us, how we can improve definitely and attack, find different solutions, how we can be stronger when away or have a lot against us.

“We have to be focused on us.

“Results are down to performances – we have to focus on what we can do, not final results.

“We all want to win but easy to say, think of the win.”

Pellegrino also refused to speculate on whether playing so many games away from home would actually be a benefit rather than a hindrance to his side.

“In six weeks’ time I’ll let you know if positive or not,” he smiled.

“Now, about opinion. Fact, will be results. We have to do our best to win games.”