Nominees are revealed as voting opens for the Daily Echo Player of the Season Award 2018/19

After a real struggle against the drop once more Saints have secured safety with two games to go and can now look to the future with optimism.

The campaign started with Mark Hughes having taken full change of the side but he only lasted until December before being sacked and replaced by Ralph Hasenhuttl.

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The Austrian has revolutionised Saints, inspiring them to the kind of form which over an entire season would have them competing for European football rather than worrying about the drop.

Picking a Player of the Season, who will collect the prestigious award handed out for the 46th time and won by all the great and good of Saints down the years, is not easy.

Few players have figured for the entire campaign, many have struggled in various parts, as you would expect with a team that took so long to start getting results, and there is not one stand-out contender.

The favourites are likely to be captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, the much-improved James Ward-Prowse and winger Nathan Redmond who has battled back from adversity.

Our panel of experts have narrowed the field down to five candidates to receive the original and most celebrated Player of the Season Award at Saints and it’s down to you to vote.

READ: 45 years of amazing winners > >

The contenders:

Jan Bednarek

A real outsider for the award but a player who has attracted a lot of interest during the second half of the campaign.

Centre half Bednarek looked to have established himself as a key man at Saints in their survival battle at the end of last season and had a decent World Cup with Poland in the summer.

However, he was overlooked by Mark Hughes and found himself frozen out of the team.

The appointment of Ralph Hasenhuttl saw Bednarek’s return to the first-team fold and since then he has become virtually an automatic pick.

While Saints’ defence has still creaked at times under Hasenhuttl, Bednarek’s influence has helped to steady the ship and, while this season might be a bit early for the top award, there is much optimism that he will be a great player for the future.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

The Danish midfielder has become a real fan favourite for his combative performances and the passionate leadership he shown for the team.

Another player who struggled under Hughes, albeit he was playing, he has been given the captain’s armband by Hasenhuttl and very much led from the front.

There have been so many full blooded, fully committed displays from Hojbjerg who has the second most Premier League starts for Saints this season.

He has also added an extra attacking threat to his game and the four goals he has delivered have been very valuable in the fight for survival.

The only blot on his copybook has been from disciplinary issues with two red cards meaning enforced absences from the team.

However, his overall contribution has still been immense.

Danny Ings

The on-loan Liverpool man, who joins permanently in the summer, gets a place in this line-up as the club’s joint leading scorer with eight goals in all competitions.

In truth, it has been a difficult first season with the club.

He has looked a real threat whenever he has played, and his seven Premier League goals, plus another in the FA Cup, underline the potential he has to deliver for Saints.

However, injuries have never been too far away, as is highlighted by the fact that all his goals came before Christmas, since when he has struggled for fitness. He certainly would have hoped to have started more than 21 times in the Premier League by this stage of the season.

Hasenhuttl clearly values him not only for goals but also for his all-round game and has been keen to build an attack around his abilities to drop deep and link up the play which is an interesting marker for the future.

Nathan Redmond

Stats can tell a story and Redmond’s are impressive.

He is the only player to figure in every Premier League game for Saints this season and has started all but one of them. His eight goals in all competitions make him the joint leading scorer. His four Premier League assists put him top of the tree for the club.

Perhaps the more compelling argument for Redmond to win the top award is the story behind the stats.

It was not very long ago he was forced to take a break from action, his confidence shattered as his own fans turned on him and regularly booed him.

Redmond was forced to go away, reflect and work on his game and has come back a stronger person and player.

Like any tricky attacker he still gets a share of moans and groans when things don’t go his way, but he now keeps on trying.

He is also probably the only player in the squad to have played consistently well under both Hughes and Hasenhuttl.

Though he has undoubtedly gone up a level under the latter, his early season performances were among the highlights of a difficult period and mean he is worthy of serious consideration.

James Ward-Prowse

What a transformation the Saints academy product has undergone.

Ward-Prowse has finally come of age and under the guidance of Hasenhuttl, found a position to call his own and delivered the goods.

For so long he has been the promising youngster who hasn’t quite been able to establish himself fully in the first team starting line-up. Even when Hasenhuttl first took over it looked to be heading that way again, but his huge talent has been harnessed.

Though the first half of the season was nothing to write home about, the second has been remarkable.

Seven Premier League goals in his last 16 games is a brilliant contribution, and a huge improvement, from a midfielder who had netted ten times in his previous 175 top flight matches.

That form has been justly rewarded by an England call-up and another cap.

He is no promising youngster anymore. He is a fully-fledged Premier League star.