Mauricio Pochettino says he is flattered that Saints are being compared to Everton in the build-up to the two teams meeting at St Mary’s tomorrow.

Under Roberto Martinez the Toffees have developed a reputation for the exciting brand of football that Pochettino also employs.

They could break the top four this season and Pochettino smiled: “It flatters me that Southampton Football Club is actually compared to Everton because Everton for the last ten, 11, 12 years has always been in the top six or top eight. Southampton has been barely two seasons in the Premier League.

“Everton have a massive squad and that’s not the case with Southampton but the comparison I do like, I do relish it, because it means that we are doing things right.”

Saints have struggled for goals from open play in the last few weeks but Pochettino is unconcerned.

“I would be a bit more worried if we just had 30 points at the moment. Right now I’m not worried with the number of points we have at the moment,” he said.

“We are three points away from achieving a historic achievement with this football club, achieving the maximum number of points the football club has ever achieved.

“As a team I think there are many positives you can draw from this team’s season.

“There are many positives I would highlight and I think overall we are having a fantastic season, that the team is playing very well.

“If you look at the overall analysis there are of course little things we can improve upon but overall I feel very positive about how this team is playing with the means at our disposal.”