RONALD Koeman appeared to be playing down Saints’ chances for the remainder of the season after the win against Burnley, but you get the sense he knows there is still more to come from his side.

Koeman has handled this season quite brilliantly.

He has recognised instinctively the right times to ramp up the pressure, and those when he needs to try and shield his players. It seems he feels this a time for the latter.

It wasn’t just the win over Burnley that renewed optimism of something truly remarkable at St Mary’s, it was the way it was achieved.

Saints had that swagger again.

We haven’t seen it for a while, and never as markedly as in the opening months of the campaign.

It’s hard to define and quantify, but it certainly is a sense of momentum after two home wins sandwiched an excellent draw away to Chelsea.

It’s that feeling in the team that they won’t concede goals, and that, come what may, they will find a way to score.

We can recognise it because we have seen it already in this campaign.

Daily Echo:

Shane Long celebrates his opener against Burnley.

And if that feeling ebbs on for a while, which will probably depend largely on players staying fit and available, then there is every chance of a stirring finale to the campaign, especially given the fixture list.

Koeman has seen it, he surely knows it. He even admitted that he can sense the momentum, that mood, is the same as it was when Saints were at their irresistible best early on. Admittedly a glance at the table and the reality of Saints finishing above some of the teams they would need to in order to secure even fourth place does, based on history, feel farfetched.

However, they are where they are on merit, and you can easily make a case that they will finish with about 70 points this season.

If they do that then they are going to be extremely close.

For now Koeman was talking as if almost settling for seventh and hoping that is enough. For the Europa League.

It surely is a ploy, Koeman realising that with a two-week international break and expectations really building again, it is perhaps sensible to try and keep things on the level a little.

Make no mistake though, Saints are the real deal this season and they are more than likely to be in there fighting right until the final weeks.

Maybe they will make it, maybe they won’t, but the chances of them bumbling along and merely hoping that seventh is good enough for Europe are nil.

One thing you would have to say about Saints is that when they’ve been hot everything has gone for them, when they haven’t been everything has gone against them.

Proof of that unstoppable momentum was there against Burnley.

They were the better side, they did deserve their win, but when they needed a few breaks, namely with the two goals, they duly got them.

Burnley, on the other hand, did not.

Koeman made an unusual decision, not so much in starting Graziano Pelle and Shane Long in the same side, but more by changing what had worked so well at Chelsea.

It was meant to be more attacking and, while it did get more attacking players on the pitch, it didn’t particularly have the desired effect.

The formation almost became a 4-2-2-2, which provided Saints little attacking width and little defensive cover for the full backs, which Sean Dyche tried to exploit.

Once Koeman changed things at the break, Victor Wanyama entering the fray and the formation reverting to the tried and trusted, Saints were totally dominant.

The opening stages were notable only for Fraser Forster’s injury and the introduction of Kelvin Davis, who did enough to suggest he is ready to play the remainder of the season, making a good save from Sam Vokes and an outstanding one to his right to deny Danny Ings.

Daily Echo:

Saints' medical staff tend to Fraser Forster while Jose Fonte watches on.

Pelle put in a good all-round performance on his recall to the side, but his desperate lack of confidence in front of goal was seen a couple of times in the first half.

After Long’s flick-on had been fed to him by the excellent Ryan Bertrand he turned down an obvious shooting position in favour of extra touches, which led to him being dispossessed.

Later in the half Jose Fonte headed a free kick back across the goal to Pelle in a central position six yards out but he hit the bar with the net gaping.

Saints did ride their luck as Burnley had a handy looking penalty appeal rejected as George Boyd went down under Fonte’s challenge in the area, and grabbed the lead on 37 minutes. They enjoyed was a stroke of fortune as the ball eventually worked its way out of the Burnley area to Nathaniel Clyne. He drilled in a fierce shot from 20 yards that deflected off an unwitting Burnley defender and straight to Long who sidefooted into the opposite top corner for 1-0.

Saints doubled their lead on 58 minutes as Steven Davis lifted the ball down the left wing for Bertrand who firedd in a vicious ball across the face of the six yard box. Jason Shackell instinctively stuck out a leg and diverted it into his own net.

Pelle and Shackell were both unable to take advantage of headed chances in the latter stages of the game as Saints hunkered in for three points.

They are in there fighting, and still in with a chance.