Nominees are revealed as voting opens for the Daily Echo Player of the Season Award 2019/20

After an incredibly slow start to the campaign, things went from bad to worse as Leicester inflicted a 9-0 defeat on Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side back in October.

The St Mary’s outfit had a stint in the relegation zone and it looked as if it was going to be another season battling against the drop.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

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Hasenhuttl managed to galvanise his squad and they responded by going on a fantastic run over the festive period and into January.

They picked up wins against Aston Villa, Chelsea, Tottenham and Leicester to climb away from the drop zone.

Although their form dropped in February and March, the coronavirus crisis gave Hasenhuttl’s squad the chance to take a step back and assess what’s going wrong.

When football resumed in June, Saints didn’t look back.

Victories over Norwich, Watford, Manchester City and Bournemouth, as well as draws against Manchester United, Everton and Brighton, propelled them to 49 points.

That’s three more than ex-boss Claude Puel managed in 2016/17.

Picking a Player of the Season, who will collect the prestigious award handed out for the 47th time and won by all the great and good of Saints down the years, looks to be a one-horse race.

There have been a few key members of Hasenhuttl’s squad throughout the 2019/20 campaign, but one man has stood head and shoulders above them all.

The favourite for this year’s award is likely to be striker Danny Ings, the local lad who has 21 Premier League goals to his name.

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However, James Ward-Prowse, who recently became the club’s captain, has also had a good season.

We’ve narrowed the field down to three candidates to receive the most original and celebrated Player of the Season award at Saints – and it’s down to you to vote.

The contenders:

Danny Ings

Danny Ings celebrates at Portsmouth's Fratton Park

The firm favourite for this year’s award.

Ings has been a cut above the rest throughout the campaign and played a key role in firing Saints away from the relegation zone.

After a slow start to the season, where he became accustomed to playing second fiddle behind Che Adams, the local lad came to life against fierce rivals Portsmouth.

Ings bagged a brace against the Fratton Park side and hasn’t looked back since.

To put his 21 Premier League goals into context, last year he managed just eight in all competitions.

As well as beating James Beattie’s record of most Premier League goals in a Saints shirt since 2002/03, the forward has seemingly put all his injury woes behind him.

His time at Liverpool came to a premature end after a succession of ACL injures, eventually leading to Saints signing him on loan in 2018.

That move became permanent last summer and it now looks like a brilliant piece of business from the south coast side.

James Ward-Prowse

James Ward-Prowse reacts to his goal against Watford

Midfielder Ward-Prowse is unlikely to win this year’s award, but he’ll be thrilled with how his season has gone.

Not only has he established himself as one of the club’s most important players, but he was also recently handed the captaincy by Hasenhuttl.

For a player who joined the academy aged eight, it was a dream come true.

With him now being deployed in a deeper role, goals have been hard to come by for the 25-year-old.

But when he has scored, they tend to be at crucial moments.

He put Saints on the verge of victory at Arsenal in November before following that up with a winner against Watford.

His most recent goal also came against the Hornets, bending a delicious free-kick into the top corner and past Ben Foster.

The academy lad is continuing to develop under Hasenhuttl’s coaching and looks set to play another important role in helping the club move forward in the upcoming 2020/21 campaign.

Stuart Armstrong

Stuart Armstrong

The final nominee in this season’s Daily Echo Player of the Year award is Armstrong.

The Scottish international had to stay patient to be given his chance in Hasenhuttl’s starting XI but has shown himself to be a vital threat going forward.

When he’s on the pitch Saints look more fluid and dangerous in attack, with the former Celtic man also having a good relationship with star striker Ings.

Armstrong had to pester Hasenhuttl and figure out what more he could do to ensure he played regularly.

This says everything about the 28-year-old’s attitude and he’s starting to look like a real bargain at just £7million.

There’s no doubt that he’ll continue his run of form into next season, playing as Hasenhutt’s number 10 role – a position Saints’ boss will admit is the toughest to play in his system.

• Voting will close on Tuesday, 28 July [8am]